Illinois State was named the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Program of the Year on May 27, according to an announcement from the conference office.
The award follows a strong year for Illinois State in cross country as well as indoor and outdoor track and field. Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Jeff Bovee said, “We take pride in being a balanced team program across the three sports. This is a reflection of a lot of hard work this year by many, including our student-athletes, support staff, coaches, and our administration.”
This spring, the Redbird men won their first MVC Outdoor Championship title since 1999. The team achieved four individual MVC titles and one relay championship while adding 21 entries to their outdoor top-10 list. School records were set by Seth Nelson in pole vault, Zach Paul in the 100-meter dash, and the 4×400 relay team consisting of Enyinnaya Nwagwu Jr., Jake Welch, Evan Watson, and Paul.
Several athletes qualified for NCAA West First Rounds in both track and field events. Paul enters ranked 21st in the West Region for the 100-meter dash with a school-record time of 10.15 seconds; Reece Curtis qualified with a time of 20.63 seconds in the 200-meter dash; while their men’s relay squad is ranked twelfth regionally at a season-best time of 3:05.27.
During indoor season competition, Illinois State finished second at MVC Championships with Nwagwu winning the MVC title in the 200 meters and Julian Baker securing conference titles in both distance events—the 3000 meters and 5000 meters—while Nelson captured pole vault honors again.
In cross country competition earlier this academic year, Illinois State placed fourth at MVC Championships with three runners finishing inside top twenty positions during the men’s eight-kilometer race.
The MVC Men’s Program of the Year honor is determined by combining an institution’s finishes across cross country as well as indoor and outdoor track championships each season; lowest total score earns recognition for overall performance across these sports.
Illinois State Redbirds benefit from resources such as its Athletics Excellence Fund to support competitiveness and recruitment efforts, according to the official website. The university also utilizes facilities like OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center for student-athlete preparation while offering news updates, schedules, rosters, fan resources—and competes at NCAA Division I level.
