Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Track and Field sends seven to NCAA Championships
06/05/2012 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
June 5, 2012
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois track and field team will send seven athletes to compete in the NCAA Championships June 6-9 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. The Saluki contingent is the most Southern has sent to Nationals since the 2010 season when the SIU women's team finished ninth in the nation.
MEET INFORMATION
Dates: Wednesday, June 6 - Saturday, June 9
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Site:Drake Stadium
Championship Central (Schedule, Live Results, Video Stream)
SCHEDULE FOR SIU ATHLETES
Wednesday, June 6
5:30 p.m. — Jeneva McCall, women's discus
Thursday, June 7
3 p.m. — Jeneva McCall / DeAnna Price, women's hammer throw
6:15 p.m. — Zach Dahleen, men's 1,500-meters (semifinal)
Friday, June 8
4:30 p.m. — Cody Doerflein, men's pole vault
4:30 p.m. — Doug Palacious, men's triple jump
5 p.m. — Jeneva McCall / Kim Fortney, women's shot put
Saturday, June 9
10 a.m. — Malaikah Love, women's triple jump
11:17 a.m. — Zach Dahleen, men's 1,500-meters (final)
SIU ATHLETES COMPETING
Zach Dahleen
1,500-Meter Run
Dahleen punched his ticket to his first NCAA Final by taking 10th in the 1,5000-meters at the West Regional. The Saluki junior enters the field seeded 17th. He ran a career-best time of 3:42.90 in the event earlier this season at the Billy Hayes Invitational, which nearly broke a 50-year-old SIU record.
Cody Doerflein
Pole Vault
Doerflein will compete in the second NCAA Final of his career, his first since 2010. The senior earned his spot in the finals by finishing 10th in the event at the West Regional. Doerflein is seeded 11th in the finals field after he matched a career-best with a vault of 17-06.50 at the Regional.
Kim Fortney
Shot Put
Fortney enters her first career NCAA Final looking to end her junior season on a high note. She earned her spot at Drake by finishing 10th in the shot put at the NCAA West Regional. Fortney is seeded 16th in the finals field by virtue of her career-best throw of 53-00.75 at the West Regional.
Malaikah Love
Triple Jump
Love qualified for her first NCAA Final by finishing eighth in the triple jump at the West Regional. She is seeded 20th in the finals field. The Saluki senior posted an SIU-record jump of 43-03.25 at the 2012 MVC Championships, which won her the MVC title for the second-consecutive season.
Jeneva McCall
Discus, Hammer Throw, Shot Put
McCall enters the NCAA Finals in three events for the second time of her career (2010) and the third consecutive season for the hammer throw and shot put. The senior has five outdoor All-America honors to her name and was the 2010 NCAA champion in the discus. She placed second in the hammer throw, third in the shot put and sixth in the discus in the West Regional to earn her spots in the finals. The Dolton, Ill., native is seeded second in the hammer throw, third in the shot put and ninth in the discus.
Doug Palacious
Triple Jump
Palacious made his first NCAA Finals by finishing 12th in the triple jump at the West Regional. The Saluki sophomore is seeded 20th in the event. He posted a career-best mark of 51-09.00 at the 2012 MVC Championships to take the event title.
DeAnna Price
Hammer Throw
The youngest of Southern's national qualifiers, Price earned her spot in Drake by finishing 10th at the West Regional. The freshman is seeded 13th in the field thanks to her career-best throw of 205-05 at the West Regional.
