Southern Illinois University
Gatorade Classic
Women's Track Fourth at Gatorade Classic
04/03/2004 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
April 3, 2004
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Senior Danielle Lawary means business after qualifying for the NCAA regional meet last weekend in the shot put. A Belleville, Ill. native, Lawary threw even better at the Gatorade Classic, tossing the eight-pound steel ball two inches farther for a mark of 47 feet, 9.75 inches.
Though she was the only athlete on the Southern Illinois University women's track and field team to hit a regional qualifying mark, she wasn't the only Saluki to improve from the first meet of the season.
SIU finished fourth with 83 points, while SMS (171) pulled away with the win. Host Southeast Missouri State finished second with 159 points, followed in third place by Illinois State with 99.5 points.
The men and women's track and field teams came away with third place in the combined team score at the Gatorade Classic on Saturday. The Salukis posted a total of 174 points behind host Southeast Missouri State (256.5) and Southwest Missouri State (241).
Junior Kelsey Toussaint and senior Korto Dunbar finished fourth and fifth in the 100-meter dash. The two posted times of 11.99 and 12.05, respectively, in the event. Dunbar continued her top five performance with a fifth-place finish in the 200-meters, clocking in at 24.73.
Sophomore Ty-Nica Davis had a season best time in the 400-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 57.14, which was good enough for third place.
Freshman Sarah Rinker ran the fastest 1500-meter time this season with a 4:39.57, while fellow freshman Brittani Christensen wasn't far behind with a time of 4:48.84. The young runners were fifth and tenth, respectively.
The 4x100-meter relay team came close to the school record it set last weekend with a time of 46.13 - just .04 hundredths of a second off the record time.
In the other field events, junior Inna Turevsky finished third with a leap of 18-05.75. Junior Venisha Williams moved closer to qualifying for the regional meet in the hammer throw with a toss of 169-03, which is only about ten feet short of the qualifying mark. The throw was also more than three feet better than her career best, which she set last weekend.
Sophomore Megan Cenkush came away with a victory in the javelin as she posted a distance of 134-08, nearly nine feet better than her season best.
SIU will return to action next weekend at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, California. All results of the meet held from April 16-18 can be found at www.SIUSalukis.com.
