Male Track –

Jack Anstey, Sr., Illinois State (Toowoomba, Australia)
Jack Anstey took down three records – the ISU school record, the Missouri Valley Conference record and the Ole Miss Track facility record – with his personal-best time of 3:39.17 in the 1,500-meter run this weekend at the Joe Walker Invite. He has now broken the 1,500-meter school record three times, twice just this season. With that time, Anstey leads the MVC by over eight seconds and broke the Valley record in the 1,500m for the second time this year. In a deep field where the top-eight finishers all ran sub-3:40 and broke the Ole Miss Track facility record, Anstey placed eighth overall and was the top finisher from the NCAA West Region in the 1,500m. Anstey's time is currently the third-fastest in NCAA West Region and the 10th-fastest time in the NCAA.

Noteables: Eran Siboni (Loyola), Dominic Paoletti (Valparaiso), JaVaughn Moore (Indiana State), Alec Hartman (Bradley), Adam Fogg (Drake)

Female Track –

Grace Beattie, Sr., Illinois State (Woodstock, Illinois)
For the second-straight week, fifth-year senior Grace Beattie ran the second-fastest time in school history, running a 17-second personal-best time to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase and set a new facility record at the Ole Miss Outdoor Track. Beattie's time of 10:02.73 is No. 1 in the Valley by over 42 seconds, No. 2 in Illinois State track & field history, No. 5 in the NCAA West Region and No. 8 in the nation. The only Redbird with a faster steeplechase time than Beattie is Olympian and current pro-athlete Aisha Praught-Leer. Last week, Beattie broke the facility record in the 5,000-meter run at the Redbird Outdoor Track & Field Complex, running an NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifying time of 16:06.28, which also is the No. 1 time in the Valley and the No. 2 time in school history.

Noteables: Molly Reighard (Loyola), Jocelyn Quiles (Indiana State), Anna Lowry (Evansville), Madison Meredith (Missouri State), Wilma Nielsen (Bradley), Brooke Mullins (Drake)

Male Field –

Darius King, Gr.-Sr., Northern Iowa (Moline, Illinois)
Darius King tied his career-best outdoor shot put mark which is second in UNI school history and the best mark in the MVC to date this season. His mark of 19.32m took first at the Tom Botts Invite at Missouri. He is currently ranked 13th in the NCAA and seventh in the West Region. He also hit a career-best mark of 58.33 in the hammer throw and moved up to 57th in the West Region and fourth in the Valley to date this season.

Noteables: Will Maidment (Valparaiso), Logan Calvin (Illinois State), Frankie Young III (Indiana State), Ricky Hurley (Southern Illinois), Joey Harkins (Drake)

Female Field –

Jessica Haney, So., Missouri State (Lee’s Summit, Missouri)
Jessica Haney made quick work of the high jump field at the Gorilla Classic on Sunday, winning the event on her first attempt of the afternoon (1.66m) before going on to clear the bar at the 1.76-meter mark (5-09.25).  The title-clinching jump sits as the third-best mark in program history just 0.01 meters behind the MSU record (1.77m) set on two separate occasions.  Her league-leading 1.76m clearance is tied for 16th in the NCAA West Region and tied for 27th among all Division I high jumpers.

Noteables: Jana Rokitta (Loyola), Lauren Mikolajczak (Valparaiso), Jordyn Bruce (Illinois State), Cierra Laux (Northern Iowa), Ryann Porter (Indiana State), Katelyn Williams (Drake)

2021 MVC Outdoor Performance List  | 2021 NCAA Outdoor Qualifying List 

Southern Illinois is set to host the 2021 MVC Outdoor Track & Field Championship, May 14 - 16 in Carbondale, Illinois. 

*MVC Track & Field Athletes of the Week are selected each week during the Outdoor Track & Field season. Nominees are provided by each school’s sports information contact and voted on by a panel appointed by the league office.