Southern Illinois University
SIU Invitational
Track & Field takes team titles at SIU Invitational
02/05/2011 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
Feb. 5, 2011
By Michael Benson
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois men's and women's track & field teams won the SIU Invitational Saturday inside the SIU Rec Center.
The women's team took first in convincing fashion with 182 points, outdueling second place Memphis by a whopping 119 points. However, the men's side was considerably closer, as the men's total of 119 was just five points better than UM's 114.
"It's exciting to come out in a scored meet and be able to win, especially when you're at home," said head coach Connie Price-Smith. "We had some good performances out of it. I think that, when we score, we see that we are a team."
On an individual basis, the Saluki women garnered four more event titles on Saturday, bringing their meet total to seven. The men's team took three events on Saturday, adding to their two from Friday night.
Jeneva McCall took her second throwing event title in as many days, winning the women's shot put with a mark of 54-10.25. The junior was followed by Kim Fortney, who took second with a distance of 46-08.75.
Malaikah Love also earned a second event title on Saturday, clinching the triple jump crown with a leap of 41-07.25. Trailing the Carbondale native was Kasey Oceguera, who measured in at 36-11.50.
On the track, the women's team took two titles - Megan Hoelscher in the mile (5:02.09) and Meredith Hayes in the 60 meter hurdles (8.64).
The men's three victories on Saturday all came on the track. However, none was more important than freshman Brian Dixon's in the 3000m. With SIU trailing Memphis by 10 points in the standings, Dixon turned in an astounding performance in his first time in the event, timing in at 8:41.07. He was followed by teammates Brad Wrage and Nick Schrader, completing a one-two-three finish in the event - good for 24 points and a lead the team would never relinquish.
"I was surprised by that, especially on the men's side," Price-Smith said in regard to the tight margin. "I actually thought that because we didn't have a 4x400 (relay) that they might come back and beat us. It was a nice surprise."
The men earned their first event title of the day in the mile run, as Dan Dunbar pulled out a win with a time of 4:10.84. Shortly thereafter, sprinter Brandon Deloney won the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.73, topping Memphis' Taurean Nixon by over half a second.
The Saluki track & field teams will head northeast next weekend, as they are set to compete in the GVSU Big Meet, hosted by Grand Valley State University.
Players Mentioned
