Southern Illinois University
SASF Invitational
Track and Field has commanding day one at SASF Invite
01/15/2010 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
Jan. 15, 2010
By Jason Clay
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois indoor track and field teams had athletes place first in five of six events and set six provisional marks in the first day of the SASF Invitational, Friday at the SIU Recreational Center.
"It's always nice when you can start a meet off with provisional marks and `PRs'," head coach Connie Price-Smith said. "It sets the tone for the rest of the meet and gets everyone excited. Hopefully it will carry over to tomorrow."
Sophomore Cody Doerflein became the first Saluki to clear 17 feet in the pole vault in the last six years. He cleared 17-04.50 on his third and final try at that height and it was the second-best vault in the nation as of Friday.
The Salukis cleaned house in the women's weight throw where SIU owned the top five spots, four of which qualified for provisional marks. Sophomore Jeneva McCall took home first place with a personal-best throw of 68-03.25. Gwen Berry (67-02.25) came in second and was followed by Rickael Roach (64-11.50). Sasha Leeth (62-03.00) and Olga Ciura (61-01.25) held down fourth and fifth place in the event.
Southern Illinois' men throwers nearly matched the women's success in the weight throw, as they took three of the top four spots. Sophomore J.C. Lambert finished in first with his personal record of 63-10.25.
Sophomore Malaikah Love registered the second-furthest long jump in Saluki history to beat the rest of the field. She hit the provisional mark of 20-04.50 on her third and final jump in the finals.
The women's pole vault was the last event completed late Friday night. SIU's Miracle Thompson tied for the event victory by clearing 12-07.50.
The SASF Invitational continues Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
Players Mentioned
