Gaston, James named MVC Field Athletes of the Week

Jan. 21, 2015

By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com

ST. LOUIS -- Saluki seniors Ashley Gaston and Luke James were named the female and male Missouri Valley Conference Field Athletes of the Week, the conference announced Wednesday.

Gaston, a senior native of Centerville, Ill., returned from a minor injury suffered before SIU's first meet to win the shot put in impressive fashion at the Kentucky Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Gaston threw a two-foot overall PR of 16.83m (55-02.75), which pushes her to fourth all-time at SIU behind three-time NCAA Champion Jeneva McCall, teammate Raven Saunders and Saluki Hall of Famer Amarachi Ukabam. Nationally, Gaston -- a two-time national qualifier outdoors last season -- ranks fourth, giving the No. 23 SIU women two throwers currently in the top-five after Saunders (second).

James, a senior native of Memphis, Tenn., came away with arguably the most impressive of SIU's four event wins at UK on Saturday. The defending MVC outdoor triple jump champion and outdoor NCAA regional qualifier won on a monster PR of 15.58m (51-01.50). Entering competition, James did not rank on SIU's top-10 in the triple -- a list he now ranks sixth on behind Olympians Phil Robins and Ken Lorraway. Nationally, James ranks eighth in the triple jump -- one of SIU's seven top-10 national marks this season among both the men and women.

Saluki track and field will continue the indoor season this Friday and Saturday (Jan. 23-24) at the Vanderbilt Invite in Nashville, Tenn.