St. Louis -- The league coaches have tabbed Northern Iowa’s men’s program and Illinois State’s women’s program as the favorite in the 2022 Indoor Track and Field Pre-Championship Poll. The Championship will be in action Sunday, February 27 through Monday, February 28 at the Track & Field Center at Gately Park.

MVC Men's Pre-Championship Poll Results - 

Northern Iowa, the reigning MVC Indoor Champions, were selected to finish first in the men’s pre-championship poll after receiving four first-place votes and a total of 75 points. The Panthers continue to hold a spot in the Regional Rankings, currently sitting in ninth. On the track, Isaiah Trousil ranks second in the league in both the 60m and the 200m, followed closely by teammates Parker Kiewet (200m) and Tayshaun Cooper (60m). In the field events, Matteo Capello leads the MVC in the pole vault, with a top mark of 5.36m. Two-time All-American Darius King has dominated the shot put this year, with a Valley-leading throw of 20.30m, which ranks sixth in all of Division I and is a UNI program record. Carter Morton leads the team in the multis with a top score of 5350 in the Heptathlon this season.

Indiana State was picked second in the pre-championship poll, garnering five first-place votes and 71 total points. The Sycamores boast athletes in the top two of every sprints event, along with the top marks in all three jumps events. Indiana State holds a pair of top-50 marks in the nation in the 60m (JaVaughn Moore - 30th, 6.65) and long jump (Shomari Rogers-Walton - 50th, 7.55m), while also posting four of the top seven times in the 60m (Moore, Rogers-Walton, Noah Malone, Jarel Shaw). The Sycamores currently have the top mark in the conference in six different events, with hurdler Luigi Rivas (7.92), the high jump duo of Lawrence Mitchell (2.10m) and Kevin Krutsch (2.09m) and the long jump duo of Rogers-Walton (7.55m) and Frankie Young III (7.50m) expected to contend for top results at the championship.

Illinois State came in third with 66 total points. On the track, Brandon Gage (400m) and Riley Wells (800m) both hold the fastest times in the Valley for their respective events. ISU’s 4x400m relay also has the league’s top mark this season. In the field events, Logan Calvin will lead the way for the Redbirds in the shot put and weight throw. Calvin is currently ranked 31^st nationally in the shot put and 41^st national in the weight throw. The Redbirds have four returning MVC champions back for the meet in Wells, Gage, Jake Gillum and Caleb Miedema.

Drake came in fourth with 53 points. The Bulldogs have had success in the distance events, as Isaac Basten currently owns the top MVC time in the men’s 1 mile run (3:56.10) which is marked a new Valley record in the event. He improved on a record already owned by a Drake athlete, his teammate Adam Fogg. Basten has run a sub-4 mile three times this season. Fogg comfortably has the best 3,000 meters time this season in The Valley (7:51.01, also a MVC indoor program record).  Gal Arad holds the Valley’s best 200m time of 21.23 as he also set the Israel national indoor record with that performance. Joey Harkins (19.93 meters), Adam Phillips (19.62) and Anthony Barmes (19.24 meters) rank second, fourth and sixth respectively in the MVC in men’s weight throw.
 
Coming in fifth with 43 points is Southern Illinois. For the Salukis, Omar Rodgers is a two-time winner this season.  He currently ranks sixth in the MVC with his time of 8.14 seconds in the 60m hurdles.  Corey Sherrod has also had a strong indoor season thus far, his 200m time of 21.94 ranks eighth in the MVC.  In the last competition before the MVC Indoor Championships, the men’s 4x400 relay team was able to run a season best of 3:15.35, which is sits at second in the Valley.  On the field side, Cole Targgart has been able to have success in both shot put and weight throw.  Targgart comes in at sixth in the MVC with his shot put and eighth in the men’s weight throw.


Bradley was picked sixth with 38 points in the pre-championship poll. The Braves return a group looking to repeat as DMR champions.  Max Dieterich (mile) and Charlie Parrish (3,000 meters) highlight a group of returners for the Braves after the duo both captured all-conference honors last winter.  The Bradley men took fifth at last year’s Valley Indoor Championship as BU’s men and women both eclipsed 50 points at the same Valley Indoor Championship for the first time in program history. 

Coming in seventh with 32 points is Loyola. The Ramblers enter the MVC Indoor Championships with nine marks that rank in the top 10 on the Valley leaderboards.  Leading the way for that group is the distance duo of Blake Buysse and Jason Clayton.  Buysse ranks second in the league in the 5,000m run, while Clayton used a 3,000m run effort of 8:03.39 that has him second in the event.  In the sprinting events, Ayoub El-Ashmawi resides in fifth in both the 200m dash and the 400m dash, while Kevin Szczepaniec owns the conference's seventh-ranked mark in the triple jump.

Valparaiso was picked eighth with 16 points. Tristan Malatlian cracked the program record book in the pole vault this season, posting a 4.80m (15-9). This mark was a new personal record, representing the second-best indoor pole vault in program history behind only Justin Zosso's 2015 record of 16-2.75. Other Valpo athletes to watch include throwers Eddie Juszczak, and distance runners Eric Carothers and Ignacio Veloz Bonilla. 

Evansville received 11 points in the pre-championship poll. Trey Riggs will look to improve upon an eighth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at last year’s Indoor Championships.  He also is UE’s indoor school record holder in the long jump event. Overall, the Aces have seven top-20 marks in The Valley heading into the event.



MVC Women's Pre-Championship Poll Results - 

Illinois State was selected to finish first in the pre-championship poll receiving all 10 first-place votes and a perfect score of 100 points. On the track, the Redbirds are led by Rachel Hickey (800m, mile) and Jaclyn Greci (400m), who each hold the league’s top marks in their respective events. Overall the team has 13 top-five marks in track events this season. In the field, ISU has had a great showing by Kameesha Smith in the high jump. She currently leads the MVC and ranks 26^th in the nation. Smith looks to three-peat in the event at this year’s championship, and would become just the second woman to do so in the high jump. The ‘Birds also hold top-five MVC marks in nine field events. If the Redbirds capture the 2022 title, this would secure their fifth-straight indoor crown.

Southern Illinois places second in the pre-championship poll with 84 points. On the track, Iaunia Pointer ranks first in the 200m and third in the 60m for the Valley. Kayla Schiera holds the fourth best MVC time for the 3000m and is also ranked fourth in the mile as well. Savannah Long ranks third in the 60-meter hurdles. The Salukis hold the top five best marks in the Valley this season for the weight throw with Elisia Lancaster, Shauniece O’Neal, Bri’Yanna Robinson , Matisen Ingle, and Kaitlyn Burson.  Lancaster ranks 7th nationally, while O’Neal comes in at 11th. A’veun Moore-Jones ranks first in the Valley and 7th nationally in the shot put alongside teammates Bri’Yanna Robinson, who is ranked second in the Valley and 26th nationally going into this weekend. 

Indiana State was voted third in the pre-championship poll with 78 points. Jocelyn Quiles ranks inside the top 10 in the Valley in the 800m (10th), mile (2nd) and 3000m (5th). Indiana State also features two athletes who rank highly in multiple disciplines, as Ryann Porter is the top triple jumper in the conference (12.75m) while also ranking fourth in the 60m hurdles (8.81) and 11th in the long jump (5.42m), and Kamille Gaskin-Griffith ranks inside the top 20 in the conference in the long jump (6th, 5.46m), 60m hurdles (12th, 9.17) and 60m (17th, 7.83). Selene Weaver (4.00m) and Landis Brandon (3.78m) rank first and second in the conference in the pole vault, with Weaver’s mark being the top clearance by a Sycamore in seven years. The Sycamores have five of the top 11 long jumpers in Gaskin-Griffith, Brittney Walker (5.44m), Dominique Wood (5.43m), Faith Frye (5.42m) and Porter.

Tabbed fourth in the coach’s pre-championship poll with 76 points is Northern Iowa. The Panthers have 11 track athletes ranked in the top-10 of the MVC in various events. Paishence Johnson is one of those, sitting at fourth in the 60m, followed closely by teammate Jill Bennett. Sophia Jungling has also recorded a mark that ranks fourth in the 800m. In the field, UNI has 11 top-10 marks in the league this season, including a 5-6-7 ranking for Morgan Nealey, Katie Fare and Marin Ehler, respectively, in the shot put.

Voted fifth with 51 points is Drake. On the track, transfer Jaymie O’Connor has consistently held the top women’s 60 meter hurdles time in the MVC, while  Yinka Mary Ajayi (200m) and Busiwa Asinga (400m) rank third in the conference.  Brooke Mullins has the fifth fastest 5,000 meter run time in the MVC and the sixth fastest conference time in the 3,000 meter run this season. Both of those times moved her into the top-10 of the Drake indoor program record book. In the field, Chandler Haight found herself in the Drake indoor program top-10 in the shot put registering 14.24 meters at the Iowa State Classic to put herself in a tie for 11^th currently in The Valley.
Missouri State was picked sixth in the pre-championship poll with 50 points. Two-time MVC individual event champion Madison Meredith will be back in action for the Bears this year after a successful regular indoor season, where she collected five event titles to her name. On the distance side of things, Edna Dar and Sierra Williams will look to make a splash for MSU in the one-mile run. Dar’s time of 4:54.03 puts her at fifth in the conference standings while Williams sits in sixth. In the field events, Tamia Rayford currently sits atop the conference standings in the long jump, while teammates Talia Emerson and Brooke Jenkins also own top-10 marks in the MVC.

Bradley was chosen seventh in the poll with 44 points. The team scored a school-record 58 points at last year’s MVC Indoor Championship with sophomore Julia Nielsen sweeping the 800-meter titles at the Valley Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2021.  The Braves also return the core of a DMR squad that claimed the Valley crown in 2021.  In addition to a strong returning cast, freshman Nicola Jansen owns the top time in the MVC in both the 3,000 & 5,000 meters. Jansen’s 5K time is the best in the MVC dating back to 2016, while her 3K time is the best in the Valley since 2019.
Loyola took eighth in the poll with 36 points. The team looks set to impress in both the 3,000m run and 5,000m run at the MVC Indoor Championships, as the Ramblers hold four of the conference's top 10 marks in both events.  In the 3,000m run, Kathleen Simms boats the league's number two time, while just 12 seconds back of her is Claire Hengesbuagh, who ranks sevent.  Simms and Hengesbaugh also reside near the top of the 5,000m run leaderboard, sitting second and third, respectively.  Jayla Johnson will look to continue a breakout season in the 60m hurdles, where she ran 8.90, a time that ranks sixth in the MVC. In the field, Jana Rokitta sits eighth in the high jump (5-06.50; 1.69m).

Evansville was selected ninth in the poll with 16 points. Leading the way for Evansville on the women’s side is reigning 5,000-meter indoor champion Anna Lowry.  Lowry, who also won the 10,000-meters at the Outdoor Championships last May, has earned all-Valley honors in each of the past two years in the 5,000-meter race at the Valley Indoor Championships. The Aces hold six marks that rank in the top 15 of the MVC heading into the meet.

Rounding out the poll with 15 points is Valparaiso. The Beacons hold four top-20 marks this season in The Valley, including two in the 5000m – Joely Overstreet and Emilee Craigin – and two in the weight throw – Mackenzie Patten and Michelle Pierce.


 
For the first time since 2007, the meet will be held in a new location as the teams travel to the Track & Field Center at Gately Park in Chicago.
 
The Track & Field Center at Gately Park is a world-class track and field facility located in the Pullman community of Chicago. The 139,000-square foot facility features a hydraulically banked 200-meter track, a 4,000-square foot curtained warm-up area, eight sprint lanes, two long and triple jump runways and pits, pole-vault runway and pads, a high jump area, discus area, and scoreboard. The facility has a seating capacity of 3,500 and includes supporting amenities such as a meet management control room, concessions, multipurpose rooms, and locker rooms.
 
For more information on the Track & Field Center at Gately Park, click here.
 
 Check out the Valley’s championship central page here for more championship details.