Southern Illinois University
Gladstein Invitational
Track & Field takes fourth event title at Gladstein Invitational
01/22/2011 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
Jan. 22, 2011
By Michael Benson
SIUSalukis.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Southern Illinois track & field team wrapped up competition in Bloomington, Ind., at the Gladstein Invitational, as they captured a fourth event title and ten top five finishes on Saturday.
"We had some really exciting things today that happened," said head coach Connie Price-Smith. "Overall, it was a good meet. There were some performances that I would have liked to have been better for this time of the year."
The highlight of the day came from senior Gwen Berry, who set a new personal record en route to winning the weight throw with a mark of 74-06.25. The St. Louis native was joined by fellow teammates Jeneva McCall, who claimed second place at 72-00.75, and Olga Ciura, whose mark of 61-11.75 gave her fifth, in the top five in the highly-competitive field.
"Gwen had an excellent throw," Price-Smith said. "It was really surprising. She had a really big throw, so that was exciting. Probably the most exciting thing that happened this meet."
In other field events, Maxim Bakana took second in the men's long jump with a distance of 23-01.75. Yet, the junior came just twenty-five hundredths of an inch short from taking first place, which went to Zach Riley of Rend Lake College.
On the track, Meredith Hayes earned two top five finishes for SIU. The senior began the day with a fifth place finish in the 200 meter with a time of 25.68, then came back and nearly won the 60 meter hurdles final, but took second instead with a time of 8.68.
The men's 60 meter hurdles saw senior Willie Knox and sophomore Jeremy Bankston finish third and fourth with times of 8.51 and 8.53, respectively. Additionally, Bankston was part of the 4x400 meter relay that garnered second place with a time of 3:21.41.
In distance events, Sam Megli earned a top five finish in the men's 800 meter with a time of 1:59.10, becoming the fifth Saluki distance runner to hold that distinction this weekend.
The Saluki track & field team will return to action Jan. 28-29, when they head to the Bluegrass State for the Rod McCravy Memorial, hosted by the University of Kentucky.
Players Mentioned
