NCAA East Preliminary awaits for Indiana State

By Press release submission

May 26, 2022

Indiana State track and field begins competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Round Wednesday, with 12 Sycamores set to compete over the course of four days at the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex in Bloomington, Indiana.

2022 NCAA East Preliminary Round
Date	Wednesday, May 25 \| 6 p.m. // Thursday, May 26 \| 6:30 p.m. // Friday, May 27 \| 1 p.m. // Saturday, May 28 \| 6 p.m.
Location // Venue	Bloomington, Ind. // Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex
Preview Info	Meet Schedule // Meet Information // Heat Sheets (to be posted daily)
Live Results	Live Results Feed
Watch Live	Live Stream
Social Media	@IndStXCTF // @IndStAthletics

Strength in Numbers

Indiana State's 12-athlete delegation is its largest for an NCAA East Preliminary Round since 2015, when the Sycamores sent 19 athletes to regionals.

Seven of Indiana State's athletes used top marks at the MVC Outdoor Championships to qualify. Quincy Armstrong (400m hurdles), Jayla Bynum (shot put), Nathan Kiger (high jump), JaVaughn Moore (200m), Wyatt Puff (discus), Luigi Rivas (110m hurdles) and Shomari Rogers-Walton (triple jump) each had season-best marks at Drake Stadium to earn top-48 spots in their respective events.

Trees On Top

Indiana State claimed its 11th MVC Men's Outdoor Championship in program history, overcoming a 24.5-point deficit on the final day of competition. The Sycamores scored 112 points on Championship Sunday and finished the meet with 178 points, 4.5 ahead of Illinois State.

ISU also earned a second-place finish on the women's side, its highest finish since a runner-up result in 2018.

The Sycamores finished the season by winning three of the four MVC Track and Field Championships, as Indiana State also swept the men's and women's indoor titles in February. ISU last won three titles in one season in 2014.

Back for More

Indiana State has five athletes who are competing at the NCAA East Preliminary Round for a second consecutive season.

Ryann Porter was the top finisher among those five, as she advanced to the 2021 NCAA Outdoor National Championships and was named an Honorable Mention All-American.

Also advancing to regionals for a second straight season were sprinters JaVaughn Moore and Noah Malone, and thrower Wyatt Puff.

Meet the Sycamores

Indiana State's 12 athletes in the NCAA East Preliminary Round are scheduled to compete in 13 different events over the next four days. Below is a summary of each qualified Sycamore, along with their event schedules and season highlights.

Armstrong put together his best 400m hurdles time of the season at the MVC Outdoor Championships, running 52.07 to earn all-conference honors. He has run his four fastest times this season, with three of those going under 53 seconds. Armstrong enters the field seeded 46th and owns the ninth-fastest 400m hurdles time in school history.

Jayla Bynum | Shot Put | Thurs., May 26 | 7 p.m.

Bynum has a penchant for showing up when it matters most, as her top two marks in the shot put this season have come at the MVC Indoor Championships and MVC Outdoor Championships. Her throw of 15.41m (50-06.75) was a career-best mark and also put her sixth in program history in the event. Bynum was the final athlete to earn a spot in the shot put field and is seeded 48th in the event.

Nathan Kiger | High Jump | Fri., May 27 | 1 p.m.

Kiger had his best performance of the season at the MVC Outdoor Championships, clearing 2.08m (6-09.75) to earn his spot in the field. The mark was his best since the 2021 MVC Indoor Championships and earned him one of the final spots in the high jump field. Kiger enters the week seeded 45th in the event.

Malone ran his best wind-legal time in both the 100m (10.34) and 200m (21.10) at the MVC Outdoor Championships, but it was his wind-aided 20.34 in the 200m at the Gibson Invitational that qualified him for the NCAA East Preliminary Round. Malone holds the T12 Paralympic World Records in both the 100m and 200m. He enters regionals seeded 10th in the 200m.

The school record holder in the 100m, Moore is one of three Sycamores competing in multiple events at the NCAA East Preliminary Round. He ran a wind-legal 10.13 in the 100m at the MVC Outdoor Championships, setting a meet record, and has also run a wind-aided 10.06 this season. Moore qualified in the 200m with his career-best time of 20.72 at the MVC Outdoor Championships. He is seeded eighth in the 100m and 43rd in the 200m.

Brett Norton | Shot Put | Wed., May 25 | 7 p.m.

Norton is one of two Sycamores competing in the men's shot put at the NCAA East Preliminary Round. He set a career-best mark of 17.85m (58-06.75) at the Pacesetter Sports Invitational and is coming off an MVC Outdoor Championships performance that saw him score in both the shot put and discus. Norton enters the week seeded 38th in the event.

Ryann Porter | Triple Jump | Sat., May 28 | 6 p.m.

An Honorable Mention All-American last season, Porter is looking to punch her ticket to Eugene for a second consecutive year. The wire-to-wire leader in the Valley in the triple jump, her wind-aided mark of 13.17m (43-02.50) puts her 14th in the region entering this week's competition. Porter's career-best wind-legal mark of 13.05m (42-09.75) came at last year's NCAA East Preliminary Round.

Puff is one of three athletes competing in multiple events for the Sycamores and earned all-conference honors in the discus at the MVC Outdoor Championships while also scoring in the shot put. His career-best mark of 53.90m (176-10) in the discus came at the MVC Championships and earned him all-conference honors. Puff also has a season-best mark of 17.69m (58-00.50), which he set at the Sycamore Open. He enters the week ranked 44th in both the shot put and discus and ranks inside the top 10 in school history in both events.

Rivas is one of two true freshmen on the Indiana State roster to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Round, with his performance at the MVC Outdoor Championships earning him a spot in the field. He ran a wind-aided 14.03 at Drake Stadium to qualify and also has a wind-legal time of 14.09, set at the War Eagle Invitational. Rivas is seeded 46th in the event.

Rogers-Walton is one of three Sycamores competing in multiple events at the NCAA East Preliminary Round, as he will compete in both horizontal jumps. He set a career-best mark of 15.57m (51-01.00) in the triple jump at the MVC Outdoor Championships, while his wind-aided mark of 7.68m (25-02.50) in the long jump came at the Gibson Invitational. Rogers-Walton is also coming off an outdoor season-best wind-legal jump of 7.51m (24-07.75) at the MVC Outdoor Championships. He is seeded 28th in the long jump and 30th in the triple jump.

William Staggs | Pole Vault | Wed., May 25 | 6:30 p.m.

Staggs is one of two freshmen in the regional field from Indiana State and has already experienced success in Bloomington this season. The MVC Outdoor Freshman of the Year cleared a season-best mark of 5.14m (16-10.25) at the Billy Hayes Invitational and has cleared five meters twice in the last three meets. Staggs enters the competition seeded 37th in the event.

Selene Weaver | Pole Vault | Thurs., May 26 | 6:30 p.m.

Weaver has also experienced success in Bloomington, as her career-best mark of 4.08m (13-04.50) came at the Billy Hayes Invitational. A model of consistency, she has cleared 3.9 meters in five of the last six meets, with the lone exception coming in unfavorable conditions at the Drake Relays. Weaver enters the week seeded 41st in the event.

What's On Deck?

The top 12 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon.

Original source can be found here.

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

Indiana State University Athletics