A quintet of Prairie Stars raced at outdoor track & field meets in Southern California this week. Cort Ross, Briar Nevills, and Madelyn Miller raced at the Bryan Clay Invitational before Ryan Jones and Noah Tegeler closed out the weekend at the La Verne Leopard Distance Carnival.
Cort Ross raced in heat two of the men's invitational 10,000 meter run on Thursday evening, taking seventh place behind three NCAA DI runners, two unattached runners, and a competitor from an NAIA school. He improved his season-best by five seconds to remain the GLVC leader and hold on to No. 15 position on the NCAA DII performance list. He is still the top athlete from the Midwest Region by a margin of 15 seconds.
Early Friday morning, Briar Nevills ran a time of 30 minutes and 36 seconds in the 10,000 meters. He now ranks fourth in the GLVC and seventh in the Midwest Region. Nevills is seventeen seconds away from hitting the NCAA DII provisional standard.
Maddie Miller then took 16th place in the women's open 10,000 meter run. Her 25-second personal best of 36 minutes and 14 seconds lands her under the NCAA DII provisional standard. She ranks No. 29 in NCAA DII and No. 7 in the Midwest Region.
Miller ranks third in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and is one of five GLVC athletes with a provisional mark in the event.
Ryan Jones kicked off Friday night action in La Verne, Cal. in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase. Jones took 15th place in 9:17.26, running a 10-second personal best to near the NCAA DII provisional standard of 9:12.31. It is the top time in the GLVC as of Friday, April 12.
Reigning GLVC Men's Track Athlete of the Week Noah Tegeler competed in the men's 10,000 meter run. He finished 23rd in 31:22 for an 18-second personal best. It is the No. 5 time in the GLVC as of Friday, April 12. UIS now ranks three runners in the GLVC top-5.
Up next for UIS track & field is Indiana State's Gibson Invite in Terre Haute, Ind. on April 19-20.