Track and Field Continues Outdoor Season at Illinois State

Friday, March 27

Normal, Ill.

DePaul University

Joyce Morton-Keif Invite

Track and Field Continues Outdoor Season at Illinois State

3/26/2026 1:14:00 PM | TRACK AND FIELD

Live Results Schedule (PDF)

DePaul opens inaugural Joyce Morton-Keif Invite this weekend

NORMAL, Ill. – Coming off a strong opening weekend at UCF, DePaul track and field heads to Normal, Ill., for the Joyce Morton-Keif Invite, hosted by Illinois State, March 27–28. Action begins Friday at 2 p.m. CT with the hammer throw, followed by a full slate of events Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. CT. Live results are available here.

DePaul returns to Illinois State's Redbird Track & Field Complex for the first time since its previous scheduled appearances in 2020 and 2023 were canceled. Illinois State will welcome a large field of programs to Normal this weekend, with more than a dozen teams expected to compete, including UIC, Marquette, Milwaukee, Northern Illinois, Illinois Wesleyan, Monmouth College, and DePaul.

Meet Spotlight
The Joyce Morton-Keif Invite honors former Illinois State head coach and faculty member Joyce Morton-Kief, a trailblazer in collegiate women's athletics. A member of the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame, Morton-Kief led her programs to multiple conference and state championships while mentoring more than 40 NCAA and AIAW Championship qualifiers. Her legacy remains a cornerstone of Illinois State's track and field history.

Last Time Out
DePaul opened the outdoor season at the UCF Black & Gold Invitational with strong performances across the board, led by Alex Bernstein in the hammer throw. The senior recorded a personal-best 68.00m to win the event and move into the top-five nationally.

Jaiden Gary added a runner-up finish in the shot put (17.60m), while Katelyn Welsh made program history in the pole vault, clearing 3.57m to establish DePaul's first outdoor mark in the event.

On the track, Claire Dunn led the 400m group with a fourth-place finish (54.02), and Demetrius Rolle placed fifth in the 100m (10.42). In jumps, Jaiah Hopf finished second in the triple jump (12.45m) and added a 5.94m mark in the long jump, while Isaiah Hopf recorded a 14.84m effort in the men's triple jump.

The early-season results have translated to national recognition, with the Blue Demons placing seven marks inside the NCAA top-50 across seven events. Bernstein leads the group at No. 5 in the hammer throw, followed by Gary (No. 20, shot put), Jaiah Hopf (No. 21, triple jump; No. 38, long jump), Dunn (No. 23, 400m), Rolle (No. 38, 100m), and Isaiah Hopf (No. 43, triple jump).

BIG EAST Weekly Honors
DePaul's opening weekend was recognized with three BIG EAST weekly honors, one of the program's strongest single-week showings in recent memory. Alex Bernstein (Men's Field), Claire Dunn (Women's Track), and Jaiah Hopf (Women's Field) each earned Athlete of the Week honors after posting conference-leading marks in their respective events to open the outdoor season.

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