Southern Illinois University
Spring Classic
Women's Track Squeaks Out Win at Spring Classic
03/27/2004 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
March 27, 2004
By Josh Magill
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - A second place finish in the javelin capped off a one-point win for the Southern Illinois University women's track team Saturday at the Spring Classic, which was held at McAndrew Stadium.
SIU (144) slipped past Miami of Ohio (143) by just one point to take the title. Illinois State with 82 points, Western Illinois with 79 points and Louisville with 51 points rounded out the top five teams. The last four teams were Murray State (40), Eastern Illinois (30), Austin Peay (19) and Bradley (2).
With the conclusion of the last event at the first outdoor meet of the season, SIU saw how much they needed to improve, as well as the fact that it had athletes capable of doing great things.
"We still have a lot of work to do," senior hurdler Korto Dunbar. "But, being at home (for our first meet) is an advantage because we get to see where we are as a team. It's nice to see what we have to work on to take it to another level."
Dunbar headed that thought by posting a winning time of 13.68 in the 100-meter hurdles, which qualifies her for the NCAA regional meet in late May. The time was just .24 seconds off her second-best time in school history.
Another senior Saluki, Danielle Lawary, followed Dunbar's lead by qualifying for the regional meet in the shot put with a toss of 47 feet. 7.75 inches. She finished in third place, with junior Katy Ritten not far behind in fifth with a mark of 45.04.25. Lawary already holds down the fourth spot in Saluki history in the shot put.
Junior Kelsey Toussaint also showed her stuff, grabbing a spot at the regional meet with a time of 11.76 in the 100-meter dash. The first-place time moves Toussaint into third all-time in the SIU record books.
One that many didn't see coming was the record-breaking effort by freshman Britanni Christensen in the 3000-meter steeplechase. The hard-working distance runner surpassed a two-year-old record set by Erin Simone by nearly 30 seconds with a time of 11.23.26 for runner-up honors in the event. Ironically, Christensen had never run the steeplechase before.
"I didn't know what to expect, so I wasn't trying to set the school record. I just wanted to have fun with the race," Christensen said. "It's good that I had fun and set a record."
"I definitely think I can improve," Christensen added. "I was running by myself and I did exactly what Coach (Sparks) told me to do. I'm always going to run my best, no matter what race it is."
SIU returns to action again next weekend when the Salukis travel to the All State Classic in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on April 2-3. The Classic will be hosted by Southeast Missouri State. Results of that meet, as well as complete results of the Spring Classic can be found at www.SIUSalukis.com.
