Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Track & Field to host Don DeNoon Invitational
02/04/2016 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
Live Results
CARBONDALE, Ill. - After steadily improving throughout the first four meets of the 2016 indoor season, the SIU Track & Field teams return to action Friday when they play host to the inaugural Don DeNoon Invitational, held at the SIU Recreation Center.
The Salukis are set to compete against 16 others schools, including in-state foe Western Illinois as well as the likes of Murray State, Southeast Missouri State and Saint Louis University, to name a few. The meet will feature team scoring, with a plaque presented to the winners by former SIU coach Don DeNoon following the completion of the event.
The Don DeNoon Invitational is set to begin at 9:15 a.m. CT as the men's heptathlon kicks off the morning session, while the afternoon session gets underway at 3:15 CT with women's and men's weight throw. The competition begins on Saturday with the completion of the heptathlon, and the women's and men's shot put beginning at 10 a.m. CT.
Live Tracking will provide live results from the meet as fans can follow the action at http://www.livetracktiming.com. Fans can also receive live updates of the Salukis competing at the meet on Saturday by following @SIU_TrackXC on Twitter and by liking SIU Track & Field on Facebook.
The Don DeNoon Invitational, formerly the SIU Invitational, has been renamed by SIU Director of track and field/cross country Kathleen Raske to honor her former coach, DeNoon, who spent 18 years as the head women's track and cross country coach at SIU. He also coaching the SIU men's cross country team for a year. Under DeNoon's tutelage, Raske thrived, earning 1989 All-America outdoor honors in the 100-meter hurdles, 1989 SIUC Female Athlete of the Year, the Most Valuable Player of the Decade by the Gateway Conference and was inducted into SIU's Hall of Fame in 1997.
"Don DeNoon is the most successful coach in the history of the SIU women's track and field program," said Raske. "I think its really important as we look back on the foundation and the building blocks of SIU track and field/cross country that his name be remembered and honored for all the work he did."
The Saluki men are currently ranked 23rd in the nation, an eight-spot jump from last week's rankings. Southern has three top-5 performances this season highlighted by Bradley Sauer's mark of 22.06m (72-04.5) in the men's weight throw at the Vanderbilt Invitational on Jan. 29, the fourth-best throw in the nation.
Joining Sauer in the top-5 in the nation are senior Josh Freeman and junior Kyle Landon. Freeman, a returning indoor and outdoor All-American in the shot put, broke his own school record with a mark of 19.67m (64-06.5) at the Kentucky Invitational to rank fifth in the nation while Landon, also a returning indoor All-American, is ranked third nationally in the high jump after clearing 2.24m (7-04.25) to win at the Kentucky Invitational.
The Saluki women have three in the top-50, with senior Alexus Scott ranked no. 24 in both the shot put and the weight throw. Junior Freya Block is currently 29th in the weight throw while fellow junior Cara Engel comes in at 37th.
After playing host to the Don DeNoon Invitational this weekend, the Salukis will go on the road when they travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to compete at the two-day Samford Invitational running Feb. 12-13 and being hosted by Samford University.
Players Mentioned
