Southern Illinois University
MVC Outdoor Championships
Men Finish Second, Women Third at MVC Outdoor Championships
05/15/2016 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
By: William Becque
SIUSalukis.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Southern Illinois men's track and field team finished second and its women's team finished third at the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, hosted by Indiana State University. Individually for the Salukis, junior Kyle Landon and senior DeAnna Price were named the most outstanding field athletes, giving SIU its second-straight sweep of the outdoor MVC field awards.
SIU crowned three more individual champions on Sunday, and had a total of 12 all-conference honorees on the day. Athletes earn all-conference by placing in the top three of individual events.
As a team, the Saluki men finished second, scoring 132 points to Wichita State's 206. On the women's side, Southern took third, totaling 117 points. UNI took second with 133 points, while the Shockers tallied 155.5 points to win the women's team title.
"Overall, we were faced with a lot of adversity and stress surrounding our team," said Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Kathleen Raske. "We talked all throughout this weekend about being Saluki strong. Our message has always been that we are in this together and we are going to finish strong. We did a great job as a team, and as a program of finishing strong. To walk away with being second and third is a big accomplishment given our circumstances. We fought hard and we fought tough. I'm really proud of this team."
Landon concluded an outstanding weekend, setting a PR in the triple jump with a mark of 48-1.25 (14.66m). That earned him a fourth place finish in the event, after he finished fourth in the long jump and won the high jump.
Price, meanwhile, became just the second thrower in Valley history to win both the shot put and hammer throw in the same meet, joining SIU alumna Jeneva McCall, who did so on three separate occasions from 2010-2012.
Junior Chrissa Harris set a Gibson Track & Field Complex record to win the 400-meter dash Sunday, winning with a time of 53.28. The time is the second-fastest in school history, and gives SIU it's first MVC title in the women's 400m since 1996. The Carbondale, Ill. native also took fourth in the 200-meter dash and earned all-conference honors as part of SIU's 4x100-meter relay team that took third.
Freshman Warren Hazel made it a sweep for the Salukis in the 400m, winning with a PR of 46.18. It was just the second time this outdoor season that the Old Roads, St. Kitts native has ran the 400, and he now has the 12th fastest time in the NCAA West Region.
Sophomore Kezia Martin, who finished 14th in the triple jump at the MVC Indoor Championships earlier this season, won the event Sunday with a PR of 40-6.75 (12.36m) on her fourth attempt. Martin's jump was more than a foot further than her previous-best of 39-1 (11.91m), set at the Billy Hayes Invitational on May 6.
The women's 4x100 relay team of senior Remy Abrought, Harris, freshman Tyjuana Eason and sophomore Mystique Thompson earned all-conference honors by finishing third with a time of 46.34. The time is the fifth-fastest in school history.
Thompson earned her second all-conference accolade of the day by finishing third in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.57. That time moves the Rock Island, Ill. native into second on SIU's all-time list, and inches her closer to qualifying for the NCAA West Regional meet. Thompson notched her third All-MVC honor of the meet later in the day with a third place finish in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 24.12.
Senior Jonathan Walsh claimed his second-straight All-MVC honors in the men's pole vault, taking second after clearing 17-00.75 (5.20m). Walsh is one of eight Salukis, all-time, to clear 17 feet or higher, and moves the senior vaulter into sole possession of sixth-place on SIU's all-time list.
Senior Ashanna Hodge became just the second Saluki woman to clock a sub-59 second 400-meter hurdle time, running 58.86 to finish second and earn All-MVC laurels. Fellow senior Josh Freeman earned his second all-conference honor Sunday, placing third in the discus with a toss of 170-07 (51.99m).
Other scoring performances for the Saluki women included Alexus Scott finishing sixth in the discus with a season-best toss of 153-4.5 (46.74m). Abrought claimed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles, while Eason took fourth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m.
A host of Saluki men scored team points, as Chad Weaver and Nathan Schuck finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the men's pole vault. The SIU men's 4x100m relay team of Ryan Mayberry, Nikolai Gall, Tyrone Echols and Hazel took sixth with a time of 41.31, while Gall took fourth in the 400m with a season-best time of 47.25. Lucas Horton finished fourth in the 800m, while Kemar Jones placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles. Hazel's sixth-place finish in the 200m and Josh Maier's sixth-place showing in the 5000-meter run rounded out the scorers for the Salukis.
Speaking of Maier, he was honored with the MVC Elite 18 award. The award is given to the highest all-conference finisher with the highest GPA. He currently maintains a 3.92 GPA and marks the fourth Saluki male to win the award in the past six years.
The Salukis' next competition is May 26-28 at the NCAA Midwest Regionals in Lawrence, Kan.
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Players Mentioned
