Blazers battle weather and tough competition at ISU Gibson Invitational

The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams had another busy weekend of competition as they headed to Indiana State University for the 2025 Gibson Invitational.

The Trailblazers faced off against athletes from several NCAA Division I programs and were able to overcome the tough competition and bad weather to put up some good results.

The three-day Invitational began Thursday morning with the first half of the Men’s Decathlon where VU sophomore Maliek Bush (Jeffersonville, Ind.) got things off to a great start.

Bush opened the Decathlon by taking the top spot in the 100 meter dash at 10.76 seconds and setting the high mark in the long jump after covering a distance of 7.26 meters.

Bush would also shine in the high jump after clearing a height of 1.85 meters to take second and closed out the first day of competition by taking fifth in the shot put with a throw of 11.93 meters and finishing ninth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 53.30 seconds.

“Thursday was the first day of competition, where Maliek got to participate in the first five events of the Decathlon,” VU Interim Head Track and Field Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “He started off strong, winning the 100 meter with a new PR of 10.76 and setting a new facility record for the Decathlon 100 meters.”

“Shortly after, he continued on his success setting a huge long jump PR, breaking seven meters for the first time,” Steigenga added. “His jump of 7.26 meters solidified his hold on first place. In the shot put he continued his PR streak with a throw of 11.93 meters.”

“He came away from the high jump with one of the best jumps of the competition and held onto first place overall,” Steigenga said. “Day one concluded with a solid time of 53.3 in the 400 meters, putting him second overall after five events.”

Bush returned to the track Friday morning for the final five events of the Decathlon and again opened the day with a hot start, taking second in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.89 seconds.

Bush suffered his first set back of the weekend after taking 20th in the discus with a throw of 22.95 meters but was able to bounce back to take ninth in the pole vault at 3.75 meters and claiming the top spot in the javelin with a throw of 52.09 meters.

Bush closed out the Decathlon with the 1500 meter run, where he came away in 14th place with a time of 5:37.95.

Bush collected 6,453 points in the 10 events, finishing fourth overall on the leaderboard.

The day continued Friday evening with the running of the distance races.

  Tanner Spence

VU sophomore Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) led the way for the Trailblazers in the 5000 meter race, finishing 28th overall with a time of 15:48.93 and taking the top spot in his heat.

Sophomores Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) and Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) followed Spence in the 5000 meters, with Hostetler posting a time of 16:07.92 and Noel crossing the line at 16:11.32.

Freshman Alexis Hale (Evansville, Ind.) took part in the women’s 5000 meters Friday night as well, posting a final time of 20:21.39 to place 41st overall.

“Maliek began day two with another big PR in the 110 hurdles,” Steigenga said. “He ran the second best time of 14.89. In the discus, Maliek did not have a good throw, which hurt his overall score a lot. It’s probably his weakest event right now and we’ll have to keep putting in a lot of work to get it where it needs to be.”

“Going into the vault, he narrowly held onto second place,” Steigenga added. “Luckily he notched another PR of 3.75 meters. Despite the PR, he slipped back to third overall heading into the Javelin.”

“In the Javelin, Maliek had two throws further than he had ever gone before,” Steigenga said. “His first throw was over 50 meters and the third was 52.09 meters, which put him back into second overall. It was also the second best throw in VU history and his sixth PR of the competition.”

“In the 1500 meters, Maliek capped off a solid two day effort finishing fourth overall and qualifying for Nationals,” Steigenga added. “It currently ranks him fourth in the NJCAA and fifth in school history.”

“Shortly after Maliek wrapped up the Decathlon, we had a couple of 5k PRs,” Steigenga said. “Alexis PRed by over a minute, running a great race and picking off a few runners near the end. Her time is over a minute and a half faster than what she ran in high school. It has been awesome to see how far she has come this year.”

“Tanner ran his first 5k on the track and led his heat from the gun, getting a heat win and new PR of 15:48,” Steigenga said. “What Tanner did was awesome, it can be really hard to lead a race from start to finish but he kept his composure and held on for a solid finish.”

The Trailblazers once again returned to Terre Haute Saturday morning for the final day of competition.

The VU Men’s track team was led on the day by sophomore Malik Ferdinand (Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) who came away with third place overall in the 400 meter dash with a time of 47.61 seconds, winning his heat in the process.

Freshman ArTezz Butler-Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind.) also took part in the 400 meter dash, finishing with a time of 51.63 seconds to take 34th overall.

Freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) placed fifth in the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.20, followed by freshman Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) who won his heat with a time of 1:58.74 to place 33rd overall.

Freshman Dakoda Greci (Danville, Ind.) rounded out the Blazers results in the 800 meters, finishing with a time of 2:03.86 to take 44th overall.

Sophomore Olamipo Ladipo (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was the next highest VU finisher on the day, taking 11th overall in the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.80 seconds.

Malik Ferdinand finished right behind Ladipo, finishing with a time of 21.81 seconds to take 13th overall.

Sophomore Zion Pruitt (Avon, Ind.) placed 13th in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 56.09 seconds, winning his heat.

The Trailblazers 4x100 relay team also came in 14th overall with a final time of 42.97 seconds.

Freshman sprinter Devin Wilson (Indianapolis, Ind.) came away with a 35th place finish in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.41 seconds, while freshman Aaden Mapp (Indianapolis, Ind.) placed 55th overall with a time of 12.04 seconds.

The VU Track team results were rounded out by sophomore Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) who took home 43rd overall in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:15.77.

Whitehead was joined in the 1500 meters by freshman Jeremy Mendez (Velpen, Ind.) who placed 51st overall at 4:22.94 and freshman Lane Connaway (Carmi, Ill.) who placed 54th overall at 4:27.35.

The Trailblazers more than held their own in the field events Saturday, led by freshman Tremayne Brown (Anderson, Ind.) who came away with the top spot in the high jump after clearing a height of 2.15 meters.

VU kept rolling in the field events with freshman Anthony Keene (Harrisburg, Ill.) claiming first place overall in the pole vault after clearing 5.00 meters.

Freshman Cayden Gasser (Delphi, Ind.) closed out the VU Men’s team results Saturday by taking 18th place overall in the shot put with a throw of 11.36 meters and placing 27th in the hammer throw at 26.39 meters.

The VU Men’s team as a whole claimed 31 points on the weekend, earning them 10th place as a team, finishing ahead of several NCAA Division I teams competing over the weekend.

The Vincennes Women’s Track team was led Saturday by freshman Zoe Allen (Anderson, Ind.) who came away with 28th overall in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.84 seconds and also competed in the 400 meter dash, posting a time of 1:01.00 to take 43rd overall.

Sophomore Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) also pulled double duty Saturday, taking 38th place in the 800 meters at 2:36.89, before finishing 48th overall in the 1500 meters at 5:05.90.

Freshman Allie Black (Lynn, Ind.) joined Fuller in the 800 meters, posting a time of 2:45.99 to take 42nd overall and freshman Sara Belgacem (Tunis, Tunisia) placed 41st overall in the 1500 meters at 4:58.45.

The VU Women’s team results Saturday were closed out by sophomore and three-time defending NJCAA National Champion Sophia Salvi (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who placed fifth overall in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.70 meters.

The VU Women’s Track and Field team claimed two points on the weekend and placed themselves 29th overall on the team leaderboard.

“Saturday, heavy rains moved the pole vault and high jump inside,” Steigenga said. “The high jump was the first event of the day for VU. Coming off a great meet last week, Tremayne was looking to have another great performance and he did not disappoint. He jumped 2.15 meters, or 7’0.5”. The last two weeks of meets and practice have been fantastic for him and he is really starting to click on all cylinders.”

“Nathan Whitehead ran the first PR of the day in the 1500 meters,” Steigenga added. “Before the race he was shooting for a 13 second PR of 4:15 and he delivered running 4:15.77. He got off to a solid start and ran a great last lap to get a huge PR.”

“In the 400 meters, Malik Ferdinand had a huge breakthrough with an almost one second PR,” Steigenga added. “His time of 47.61 placed him third overall at the meet and was a National Qualifier and fifth best time in school history. ArTezz also ran a solid race in the 400 meters and finished 0.04 seconds off his PR from last week.”

“In the 800 meters, Anis finished just off his PR to finish fifth overall and Kelvin won his heat with a new PR of 1:58.74,” Steigenga said. “In the Men’s 400 hurdles, Zion ran his best race ever. He got out really well and ran a good curve from 200 meters to 300 meters. He tied up a bit in the final straightaway but came away with a 1.5 second PR.”

“The Men’s 200 meter saw Malik set his second PR of the day, running 21.81 seconds,” Steigenga said. “We ended the day in the indoor complex where pole vault was taking place due to rain. Anthony had his best jumps of the year and came away with a new PR of 5.00 meters. The jump was good for second overall in the NJCAA and second overall in VU history.”

The Trailblazers will look to keep their momentum going as they get set for another tough weekend of competition, this time heading to the Clark Wood Invitational Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26 hosted by the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

VU will then close out the 2025 Outdoor regular season Friday, May 9 at the ISU Sycamore Open in Terre Haute before heading to the 2025 NJCAA Outdoor National Championships in Hutchinson, Kan. Thursday, May 15 through Saturday, May 17.

“It was a rough meet with all of the different conditions we dealt with,” Steigenga said. “There were a lot of intermittent wind and rain that made things difficult at times. We still had quite a few good performances from athletes that were able to fight through the added challenges.”

VINCENNES RESULTS
MEN’S RESULTS

VU (10th) – 31 points

100m

Devin Wilson – 35, 11.41

Aaden Mapp – 5, 12.04

200m

Olamipo Ladipo – 11, 21.80

Malik Ferdinand – 13, 21.81

400m

Malik Ferdinand – 3, 47.61

ArTezz Butler-Sanders – 34, 51.63

800m

Anis Abdaoui – 5, 1:53.20

Kelvin Kipsang – 33, 1:58.74

Dakoda Greci – 44, 2:03.86

1500m

Nathan Whitehead – 43, 4:15.77

Jeremy Mendez – 51, 4:22.94

Lane Connaway – 54, 4:27.35

5000m

Tanner Spence – 28, 15:48.93

Caden Hostetler – 37, 16:07.92

Cody Noel – 38, 16:11.32

400m Hurdles

Zion Pruitt – 13, 56.09

4x100 Relay

VU – 14, 42.97

High Jump

Tremayne Brown – 1, 2.15m

Pole Vault

Anthony Keene – 1, 5.00m

Shot Put

Cayden Gasser – 18, 11.36m

Hammer

Cayden Gasser – 27, 26.39m

Decathlon

Maliek Bush – 4, 6,453 points

100m – 1, 10.76, 915 points

Long Jump – 1, 7.26m, 876 points

Shot Put – 5, 11.93m, 602 points

High Jump – 2, 1.85m, 670 points

400m – 9, 53.30, 669 points

110 Hurdles – 2, 14.89, 803 points

Discus – 20, 22.95, 328 points

Pole Vault – 9, 3.75m, 549 points

Javelin – 1, 52.09m, 620 points

1500m – 14, 5:37.95, 361 points

WOMEN’S RESULTS

VU (29th) – 2 points

400m

Zoe Allen – 43, 1:01.00

800m

Adi Fuller – 38, 2:36.89

Allie Black – 42, 2:45.99

1500m

Sara Belgacem – 41, 4:58.45

Adi Fuller – 48, 5:05.90

5000m

Alexis Hale – 41, 20:21.39

100 Hurdles

Zoe Allen – 28, 15.84

Pole Vault

Sophia Salvi – 5, 3.70m