Southern Illinois University
MVC Championships (Indoor)
SIU Track Teams Finish Fourth in MVCs
03/14/2001 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
February 24, 2001
The Southern Illinois University Carbondale men's and women's track teams each finished fourth at the 2001 Missouri Valley Conference Track & Field Championships at the Student Rec Center on February 23-24.
The Saluki women finished fourth with 81 points, one place above their predicted prechampionship poll (5th) finish. SIU trailed Indiana State (119 points), Illinois State (91), and pre-meet favorite Southwest Missouri State (90). Wichita State (71), Northern Iowa (38), Drake (6), and Bradley (0) round out the women's field.
"We were ten points from finishing second. My kids competed as well as they could and I'm happy with the way we performed this weekend. I would have liked to finish higher, but fourth was a good effort for us and I'm looking forward to an even better finish in the outdoor season," said Don DeNoon, Saluki women's head coach.
Freshman Noa Beitler won the mile with a personal best 4:52.84 (3rd on the SIU all-time list) while teammate Becky Cox finished third (4:59.38). Caryn Poliquin finished third (45-10 1/2) in the shot put and Jamie Waters (44-0) added a point for sixth place.
The SIU 4x400-meter relay team finished third (3:53.59), Rimma Turevsky (38-11 3/4-triple jump) and Marian Appiah-Kubi (57.12-400-meters) each finished fourth, while Cox (10:26.63) and Katie Meehan (10:27.16) finished fifth and sixth respectively in the 3000-meter run.
The Saluki men shocked everyone but Coach Cameron Wright with their fourth place finish (57 points), after being picked to finish tied for last in the prechampionship poll. SIU finished behind poll favorite Northern Iowa (130 points), Indiana State (94), and Illinois State (88). Wichita State (43), Southwest Missouri State (42) and Drake University (36) rounded out the men's field.
"I couldn't be happier. The guys stepped up and competed this weekend. I'm happy and I like that everyone cheered for each other at the meet. We're trying to build something here and this is a good start. The team did what they're capable of," said Cameron Wright, Saluki men's head coach. "David Readle (shot put) had a great day winning and qualifying provisionally for the NCAAs, Dan Harrell finished third (pole vault) as a walk, Nyles Stuart placed in two events (long and triple jump) and Ryan Hauser (mile) ran well. I'm excited to get to outdoor season and see what happens."
David Readle won the shot put with a career best 58 foot, 1/2 inch toss. Dan Harrell tied for third (15 foot) with a career best pole vault, the 4x400-meter relay team finished third (3:24.59), and Ryan Hauser finished fourth in the 3000-meter run (8:30.40). Nyles Stuart added a fifth place finish (48-0 1/2) in the triple jump and Joe Ziebert (4:14.6-mile) and Ian Lowthian (49.58-400-meters) each scored a point with sixth place finishes.
The Salukis won three events (women's mile & distance medley relay, men?s shot put) and 19 total athletes earned all-MVC recognition (individuals finishing in the top three and first place relay team) in the two day meet.
