ST. LOUIS – Indiana State has been picked to repeat as MVC Outdoor Track and Field champions, as the Sycamores were selected first in the MVC Preseason Poll, as announced Thursday afternoon by the conference.
 
In addition, the Sycamore women were picked to finish second. The men received 96 points out of a possible 100, while the women earned 126 points out of a possible 144.
 
The Sycamores return the majority of last year's men's outdoor championship winning team, including each of its individual champions in the form JaVaughn Moore (100m), Shomari Rogers-Walton (triple jump) and William Staggs (pole vault). Indiana State also returns a plethora of all-conference honorees from last season, with every event group represented by at least two returning indoor or outdoor All-MVC honorees. All-conference honors go to student-athletes who finish in the top three of their respective events at the MVC Championships.
 
Moore broke the conference championship record in the 100m last season at 10.13 and, most recently, earned Second Team All-America honors at the 2023 NCAA Indoor National Championships. Rogers-Walton had a career-best mark of 15.57m (51-01.00) in the triple jump at last year's MVC Outdoor Championships, while Staggs recently broke Indiana State's indoor record in the pole vault by clearing 5.41m (17-09.00) at the MVC Indoor Championships. In addition, three-fourths of the Sycamores' MVC-winning 4x100m relay team (40.06) return in the form of Moore, Tahj Johnson and Noah Malone. Also adding to the talent for the Sycamores is a throws group that scored 35 points in two events at the MVC Indoor Championships. Brett Norton won the weight throw and was third in shot put, while Wyatt Puff also earned all-conference honors in the shot put.
 
ISU returns eight NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifiers on the men's side, with Moore, Rogers-Walton, Staggs, Norton and Puff all among those who were regional qualifiers last season. Quincy Armstrong (400m hurdles), Noah Malone (200m) and Luigi Rivas (110m hurdles) round out the returning regional qualifiers on the men's side. In addition, Trevor Thompson was an NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifier in the high jump last season at Southern Illinois.
 
On the women's side, Ryann Porter and Selene Weaver are the headliners for the Sycamores after both were NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifiers last year. Porter has earned Honorable Mention All-America in each of the last two seasons in the triple jump, winning the MVC title in the event in both seasons. She has also scored in multiple events at each of the last three conference championships, winning the triple jump and scoring in the hurdles events at the last two indoor and outdoor conference championships. Weaver swept the indoor and outdoor pole vault titles last season for the Trees and placed second in the event at this year's indoor championships. Indiana State also returns last year's heptathlon champion in Kamille Gaskin-Griffith, who gave the Sycamores their first MVC Champion in the event since 2010.
 
Also back for the Blue and White after earning all-conference honors last season are Landis Brandon (pole vault), Eva Grace Quinlan (heptathlon), Riley Tuerff (400m hurdles) and Dominique Wood (long jump). Quinlan also earned all-conference honors in the high jump at the indoor championships in February, while Claire Pittman (long jump) also picked up an all-conference nod.
 
Indiana State's outdoor season kicks off Friday at the Don McGarey Invitational in Kennesaw, Georgia. The first events begin at 12:30 p.m.