Saluki women win Illini Classic title

The Southern Illinois women's track and field team won the Illini Classic Saturday by the slimmest of margins, edging out the hosts by just one point. The SIU men took second in the eight team event.

Southern held a 99-92 lead over the Illini heading into the day's final event, the 4x400 relay. While Illinois scored 10 points with a first place finish, Southern got the four points it needed to pull out the win. The relay team of Genesis Ewell, Alicia Reed, Tyra Wooten and Luca-Anna Palasti delivered a fifth-place finish to clinch the team title for the Salukis.

SIU finished with 103 points, one point ahead of Illinois (102). Notre Dame was third with 62 points, while Eastern Illinois took fourth with 61 points. Northern Illinois and Western Michigan each scored 59 points to round out the top-five.

On the men's side, Illinois won with 180 points, while SIU claimed second with 123.5 points. Notre Dame took third with 110.5 points, and DePaul (46) finished fourth.

Five Salukis posted wins on Saturday, highlighted by a pair of Salukis who recorded NCAA top-five marks in Warren Hazel and Jared Kern.

Hazel clocked the fourth-fastest 400m time in the nation, a converted mark of 47.24, to win his second-straight event title. Jared Kern uncorked a toss of 60'-10.5" (18.55m) to win the shot put and move into fifth on the NCAA list. Kern's throw was also the seventh longest in school history.

Freya Block notched her second-straight win in the weight throw while Kezia Martin and Franklin Adams each won for the first time this season.

Block was one of four Salukis to place in the weight throw, with 22 of Southern's 103 points coming from the event. The Neponset, Ill. native threw 62'-3.75" (18.99m) to claim the title, while Alexis Roberson finished second with a toss of 54'-6.50" (16.62m). Sian Person tallied three more points for the Salukis with a sixth place finish and Nikki Freeman chipped in a point towards SIU's total with an eight-place showing.

Adams and Martin both scored in multiple jumps, as Adams won the long jump and placed fourth in the triple jump, while Martin was victorious in the triple jump and took fifth in the long jump.

Adams accounted for 15 points and won for the first time this season with a mark of 23'-2.50" (7.07m). He was one of three Salukis to place in the top-6 of the long jump as Kyle Landon, competing for the first time this season, took third and Fraquan Gaines set a PR with a mark of 21'-10.25" (6.66m) to place sixth.

Martin won the triple jump with a mark of 39'-8.75" (12.11m). She was the only competitor in the field to leap 39'-4.50" (12.00m) or better and later upped her point total to 14 with a fifth-place effort in the long jump.

The Saluki men scored nearly a fifth of their points in the shot put, led by Kern's first place finish. Fellow newcomer Kyle Kling took third with a throw of 54'-11.25" (16.74m), while Isaac Ingram claimed fifth. Ricky Hurley scored three points with a sixth place finish, and Nathan Stout placed seventh.

Hazel added 14 points to the cause with his aforementioned first place finish in the 400m and a fifth place showing in the 60m dash. His 60m time of 6.86 was the fourth-best in school history.

Fellow Saluki sprinter Mystique Thompson scored 13 points with a runner-up finish in the 60m dash and added a fourth-place finish in the 200m.

Both the men's and women's pole vaulters chipped in 13 points, as Nathan Schuck posted the second-best clearance by a collegian for eight points and Chase Black scored five points with a fifth-place finish. On the women's side, Cara Engel tied for second with a clearance of 12'-5.50" (3.80m) on her first attempt while Kacy Murphy cleared 11'-11.75" (3.65m) on her first try to finish sixth. Katie Trupp cleared the same height as Murphy, but did so on her second attempt, to place seventh.

The Salukis will next travel to Nashville, Tenn. to take part in the Vandy Invitational hosted by Vanderbilt University. The two-day event is scheduled to begin Friday, Jan. 20, and conclude Saturday, Jan. 21.

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Players Mentioned

Franklin Adams

Chase Black

Freya Block

Cara Engel

Genesis Ewell

Nikki Freeman

Fraquan Gaines

Warren Hazel

Ricky Hurley

Isaac Ingram

Jared Kern

Kyle Kling

Kyle Landon

Kezia Martin

Kacy Murphy

Luca Palasti

Sian Person

Alicia Reed

Alexis Roberson

Nathan Schuck

Nathan Stout

Mystique Thompson

Katie Trupp

Tyra Wooten

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