On Rippel: Transfer from Illinois State before the 2015-16 academic year who has one year of eligibility remaining both indoors and outdoors ... Top individual event is the 800 meters, in which he was a three-time All-MVC performer ... A talented athlete who can help the Wildcats during meets this year and who is capable of being a BIG EAST scorer.
2016 Outdoor: Redshirted.
2015-16 Indoor: Redshirted.
2015 Outdoor: Ran two races each in the 400 meters and the 800 meters ... Runner-up in the 800 meters at the Redbird Invite with a time of 1:53.74 ... Posted a time of 1:53.67 and finished eighth at the Illinois Twilight ... Recorded times of 50.98 in the 400 meters in each of his two races, finishing seventh at the Wisconsin Open and 25th at the EIU Big Blue Classic ... Anchored the 4x400 meter relay squad to a fourth place finish with a time of 3:26.00 at the Lenny Lyles-Clark Wood Invitational ... Ran the 4x400 relay at the Sun Angel Classic, where Illinois State finished seventh with a time of 3:17.42 ... Ran the second leg of the relay at the Illinois Twilight and helped Illinois State come in fifth in 3:20.76 ... Led off the 4x800 meter relay at the Drake Relays, where the Redbirds came in 10th with a relay time of 7:36.18.
2014-15 Indoor: Earned All-MVC honors in the 800 meters for the third time in his career ... Placed third at the Missouri Valley Championships with a time of 1:54.28 in the final ... Finished eighth overall in the preliminary heats with a time of 1:54.22 ... Competed in the Mile and the distance medley relay at the season-opening EIU Early Bird ... Finished third in the Mile in 4:25.55 and anchored the DMR squad to a first place finish and a winning time of 10:36.50 ... Runner-up in the 800 meters at the EIU John Craft Invite with a time of 1:56.07 and led off the 4x400 meter relay which finished third with a time of 3:24.71 ... Came in fifth in the 600 meters in 1:20.18 at the Indiana University relays and ran the second leg of the 4x800 meter relay which finished second with a time of 7:37.25 ... Finished 14th in the 800 meters (1:51.81) at the Meyo Invitational ... Came in eighth and set a personal best time of 1:51.57 at the GVSU Big Meet, where he also led off the 4x400 relay in an 11th place finish ... His relay squad posted a time of 3:22.01.
2014 Outdoor: Redshirted.
2013-14 Indoor: Redshirted.
2013 Outdoor: Runner-up in the 800 meters at the Missouri Valley Championships to earn All-MVC honors ... Recorded a season-best time of 1:52.20 to place second in the final after finishing fourth overall in the preliminary heats with a time of 1:53.39 ... Ran the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay at the conference meet and helped the Redbirds finish sixth in the relay with a time of 3:16.18 ... Competed individually in the 400 meters, the 800 meters and the 1500 meters during the season ... Opened the season by placing third in the 800 meters at the UCF Invitational ... Also came in third at the Drake Relays (1:52.58), fourth at the Bill Cornell Spring Classic (1:52.32) and fifth at the Redbird Spring Invite (1:54.02) ... Came in 10th in the 400 meters with a time of 49.75 and was 22nd in the 1500 meters in 4:12.98 at the Jim Duncan Invitational ... Ran the second leg of the 4x400 meter relay at the Redbird Spring Invite and his relay team finished fourth in 3:25.04 ... Established a personal best time of 48.79 in the 400 meters and finished in fifth place at the Wisconsin Open.
2012-13 Indoor: Earned All-MVC honors with a third place finish in the 800 meters ... Also ran on the distance medley relay and the 4x400 meter relay squads at the Missouri Valley Championships ... Came in third overall in the preliminary heats of the 800 meters with a time of 1:54.37, then maintained that spot by lowering his time to a season-best mark of 1:53.46 in the final ... Ran the 800 meters leg of the distance medley relay which finished fifth in 10:22.94 and the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay which came in fifth in 3:21.05 ... Opened the season by winning the 800 meters (1:56.04) at the ISU Open ... Also anchored the 4x400 relay squad to a first place finish with a winning time of 3:23.27 ... Placed fourth in the 800 meters (1:56.53) and ran the third leg of the 4x400 relay which came in third in 3:25.01 at the Redbird Invite ... Won the 500 meters at the Meyo Invitational with a time of 1:04.11 ... Also finished 32nd in the 800 meters (1:54.47) at that meet and ran the third leg of the 4x400 relay which tallied a time of 3:21.06 and placed 23rd ... Finished 19th in the 400 meters in 50.66 at the GVSU Big Meet, where he also ran the 800 meters leg of the DMR which finished fifth with a time of 10:08.29 ... Won the 600 meters at the Fred Wilt Invitational with a time of 1:20.46 and ran the third leg of the 4x400 relay which finished as the runner-up with a time of 3:21.31.
2012 Outdoor: Qualified for the Missouri Valley Championships in the 800 meters and came in 19th in the preliminaries at the conference meet with a time of 1:58.70 ... His top time for the season was 1:55.25 in a 14th place finish at the EIU Big Blue Classic ... Ran the second leg of the 4x400 meter relay at the EIU Big Blue meet and his relay team finished 13th overall with a time of 3:27.78 ... Finished fourth in the 800 meters (1:56.86) at the dual meet against Southern Illinois ... Placed 17th at the Sea Ray Relays (1:56.67) and also ran the third leg of the 4x800 meter relay at that meet, where Illinois State was the runner-up in the relay with a time of 7:49.14 ... Tallied a 13th place finish (1:56.09) at the Vanderbilt Invitational ... Came in fourth at the Lenny Lyles-Clark Wood Invitational (1:58.89).
2011-12 Indoor: Competed four times in the 800 meters ... His top time for the season was 1:56.32 in a 15th place finish at the GVSU Big Meet ... Came in ninth at the Keck Invitational with a time of 1:59.27 ... Placed third at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational (2:00.81) and finished fourth at the dual meet against Indiana State (2:00.41) ... Ran the 800 meters leg of the distance medley relay at the Missouri Valley Championships and helped lead his relay team to a sixth place finish with a time of 10:26.16 ... Anchored the 4x400 meter relay squad which finished second in 3:19.97 at the dual meet against Indiana State.
Illinois State (Academic Honors): Two-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Award recipient for posting a top-three finish at the conference championships while also maintaining a cumulative grade-point average of 3.3 or higher ... Winner of the Commissioners Athletic Academic Award and an Undergraduate Research Internship.
Prairie Ridge High School: Four-sport athlete who competed for the track & field and cross country teams, and also played football and basketball ... Named the track team's Rookie of the Year in 2008 ... Established then-personal best times in the 400 meters and the 800 meters during his senior year.
Personal: Born 4/26/93 in Crystal Lake, Ill. ... Youngest of three children of Dan Rippel and Anne Davidson ... Has two older siblings, Kaitlin (27) and Ben (24) ... Grandfather played college basketball at Princeton ... Completed his undergraduate degree at Illinois State and is enrolled in graduate school at Villanova, where he is pursuing a degree in Biology.
PERSONAL BESTS
400 Meters 48.79 2013 Wisconsin Open
500 Meters 1:04.11 2013 Meyo Invitational
600 Meters 1:20.18 2015 Indiana University Relays
800 Meters 1:51.57 2015 GVSU Big Meet
1500 Meters 4:12.98 2013 Jim Duncan Invitational
Mile 4:25.55 2015 EIU Early Bird
CAREER AWARDS (Indoor Track)
All-Missouri Valley 2013, 2015 (800 Meters)
CAREER AWARDS (Outdoor Track)
All-Missouri Valley 2013 (800 Meters)
CAREER AWARDS (Academics)
BIG EAST All-Academic Team 2015-16
Missouri Valley Scholar-Athlete Award 2013, 2015
Commissioner's Athletic Academic Award Illinois State
Undergraduate Reserach Internship Illinois State
