Southern Illinois University
Vanderbilt Invitational
Track and Field has strong showing at Vanderbilt Invitational
01/30/2016 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
By: Will Becque
SIUSalukis.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Southern Illinois men's and women's track and field teams tallied 21 top-10 finishes at the Vanderbilt Invitational on Friday, Jan. 29 and Saturday, Jan. 30.
Going into the Vanderbilt Invite, SIU Director of track and field and cross country Kathleen Raske said the goal for her team was to continue improving.
"Our goal of the weekend was to take a step forward," said Raske. "We did our absolute best to do that and it was a good weekend overall for the Salukis."
Of the 21 top-10 finishes, 10 were top-5 performances, led by senior Bradley Sauer's event title in the weight throw on Friday. Sauer shattered his previous personal-best by more than three feet with a throw of 22.06m (72-04.50) to win the event title. The Murphysboro, Ill. native is now third in the nation and second in school history.
"[Sauer] is a senior so he's got to be happy with that result," said Raske. "But he also knows he has more work to do and that this is just the beginning."
Sauer was one of three Salukis to finish in the top-10 in the mens' weight throw, as he was joined by junior Isaac Ingram, who threw the weight 19.74m to take third while senior Josh Freeman threw a season-best 18.16m to finish eighth.
Freeman wasn't done, as he was the top collegiate finisher in the shot put with a throw of 19.40m (63-08). Sauer took fifth in the event while junior Adam Clay claimed eighth and Ingram set a new personal-best with a throw of 14.65m to finish tenth.
The SIU men's 4x400 relay team of Warren Hazel, senior Kemar Jones, juniors Tyrone Echols and Nikolai Gall had one of the most exciting finishes of the invite, as Gall ran the anchor leg and held off a late push by Southern Mississippi to finish fifth with a time of 3:15.78. SIU's time is currently the fastest in the Missouri Valley Conference.
"Any relay is the epitome of a team," said Raske. " Each person has a job to do and they're all relying on one another. Our 4x400 team dug deep and had a competitive spirit. Nikolai was great as our anchor and fought all the way through the line."
Sophomore Lucas Horton, coming off a win in the 600m at the Gladstein Invitational, set a new personal-best in the 800m with a mark of 1:51.86 to finish sixth. Gall, running in the 200m for the first time this season, set a PR in the event while junior Kyle Landon finished fourth in the triple jump, setting a new lifetime-best with a jump of 14.59m (47-10.5).
On the women's side, sophomore Alicia Reed set a new personal-best in the 200m with a mark of 25.90 while junior Chrissa Harris recorded a PR in the 400m with a time of 56.43. Sophomore Hillary Merrill shaved nearly 26 seconds off her previous personal-best time in the 3000m with a mark of 10:38.95.
Sophomore Kezia Martin also tallied a lifetime-best in the triple jump, clearing 12.05m (39-6) to take fifth. Junior Cara Engel notched a fifth-place finish in the pole vault with a personal-best vault of 4.06m (13-3.75).
For the women throwers, senior Alexus Scott finished fourth in the shot put and sixth in the weight throw, while classmate Alex Morgan took eighth in the shot.
"Overall we had a really good weekend," said Raske. "Last week we were a little flat with it being the first week of school and coming off such a strong opener (at the Saluki Fast Start Meet) but we bounced back today. I was really proud of that."
The Saluki men's and women's squads return to action Feb. 5-6 when they host the inaugural Don DeNoon Invitational at the SIU Recreation Center.
Players Mentioned
