SIU Men Win McDonald's Invite, Women Finish Runner-up
01/24/2004 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
Junior college transfer Ed Mastny tallied the first points (4) of the day for SIU as he took fourth place in the men's heptathlon. Mastny posted a score of 4344 points.
The women's throwers had spectators take notice for the second day as they placed three in the top five. Senior Danielle Lawary finished runner-up with a toss of 46-08, followed by junior Katy Ritten in third place and sophomore Megan Cenkush in fifth. Ritten had a mark of 45-07.25, while Cenkush threw a distance of 44-02.75.
SIU was still on top of the team standings after the two events, but that wasn't the story of the day - that honor belonged to Ray "D" Scotten.
Scotten, a sophomore who earlier in the day claimed his middle name was "Dangerous", was just that as he cleared the NCAA provisional qualifying mark for the indoor national meet with a mark of 17-06.50. The height places Scotten second on the all-time list in school history, just more than four inches short of the record.
The short sprints found the duo of junior Kelsey Toussaint and freshman Sherlenia Green side-by-side for the third time this weekend as they finished second and third in the women's 60-meter dash. Toussaint clocked in at 7.76, while Green posted a time of 7.79.
On the men's side of the 60-meter dash, sophomore Felix Anderson finished runner-up with a time of 7.08.
The quarter-milers took over the track next, when freshman Marquita Vines' time of 58.38 helped her to a win in the 400-meters.
The men returned to post a one-two punch in the triple jump as sophomore Dayton Johnson grabbed the win with a mark of 47-08, while freshman Antwon Stapleton was second with a leap of 46-08.75.
In the mile run, freshmen Sarah Rinker and Brittani Christensen finished second and third for SIU with times of 5:09.88 and 5:15.22, respectively. Freshman Hunter Sheldon finished third for the men with a time of 4:16.57.
Not to be outdone, junior college transfer Emmanuel Daux won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.12. Daux's time places him moves him to second place all-time in SIU history, just behind former all-american Jeff Young.
In the 800-meter run, two freshmen led for the Salukis as Ty Davis and Katie Ringelestein finished fourth and fifth. Davis posted a time of 2:20.53, while Ringelstein clocked in at 2:21.42. Junior Rob Duncan finished second for the men with a mark of 1:58.63.
With the two-day competition winding down, freshman Lindsay Wagner and sophomore Joe Byrne would post top five finishes in the long 3000-meter run. Wagner would help the women's team by finishing fourth with a time of 10:38.14, while Byrne grabbed eight points for the men, finishing runner-up in 8:34.36.
The SIU squads finished the meet out in the 4x400-meter relay, with both the men and women grabbing first place. The men clocked in at 3:20.70 to seal the team victory, while the women posted a time of 3:50.88.
The men's team (141) outscored its opponents by 53 points, with Memphis (88) coming in second, followed by SEMO (85), Harding (80), Arkansas State (61), Murray State (41) and Belmont (14).
The women's team saw a much more intense finish as the long jump, the next to last event, was the deciding factor. SEMO (137) pulled out the win by just six points after scoring two athletes in the top three of the long jump. SIU (131) had held the lead by four prior to the event.
Hence, the women's team finished runner-up in its first scored meet of the season, followed by Louisville (99), Memphis (57), Arkansas State (31), Harding (24), Austin Peay (19) and Murray State (19).
SIU returns to action next weekend at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky. Results can be found at www.SIUSalukis.com.