Southern Illinois University
NCAA Championships
Riley is indoor national champion in the weight throw
03/10/2007 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
March 10, 2007
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Southern Illinois University junior thrower Brittany Riley became the first-ever female indoor national champion in school history when she had the best throw in women's weight throw history earlier today at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
However, the performance will not count as a "world record" because weight throw records are not recognized by the IAAF.
Riley polished off a remarkable indoor season with a 83-10.25 (25.56m) mark on her final throw of the day. Her series of throws were 23.71m, 23.92m and 23.71m leading up to the record-setting toss.
The closest thrower to Riley was Georgia's Jenny Dahlgren (73-11.00), as over 10 feet separated the two.
"I was really excited for Brittany and she did what she was supposed to do," said SIU head coach Connie Price-Smith. "She handled the pressure well and competed with a lot of confidence. It was fun to watch."
A native of Flossmoor, Ill., Riley is only the second female athlete to win an indoor national championship in Missouri Valley Conference history.
Indiana State's Holli Hyche (55m dash, 200m dash in 1993; 100m dash in 1994) stood as the league's lone indoor national titlist until this year.
All-time, Riley is the fourth indoor national champion between the men's and women's track and field programs at SIU. George Woods (shot put in 1966), Terry Erickson (440-yards in 1973) and Michael Franks (400-meter in 1985) are the other indoor national champions.
"This was one of my main goals heading into this year," said Riley. "It feels great to win a national championship and I'm proud to be a Saluki."
