Track and Field hosts Saluki Fast Start to open 2018 season

Saturday, December 9

TBA

Southern Illinois University

Saluki Fast Start

Photo by: Will Becque

12/05/2017 | 2:35:00 | Track and Field

Meet Schedule

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — With the success of the 2017 season still fresh in their minds, the Saluki track and field teams are set to open the 2018 indoor season Saturday as they host the Saluki Fast Start inside the SIU Recreation Center.

The Saluki men enter the season as the favorites to win the Missouri Valley Conference indoor title while the Saluki women were picked to finish third and were one of three teams to receive a first place vote in the annual coaches poll.

"Our goal every season is to win the Valley," third-year Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Kathleen Raske said of the preseason poll. "To be honest, I didn't vote us first. It's not that we can't pull it off, I just know realistically that it is going to be a battle. I think we are going to make significant improvements across the board during the indoor season, it is just a matter of how far can we take it."

A year ago, SIU's men's team finished in a tie for 14th place at the NCAA Indoor Championships, which marked its best finish at the national meet since 1984.

SIU will compete against the likes of Austin Peay and St. Louis University with action inside SIU's Recreation Center set to kick off with field events at 10 a.m., followed by the first events on the track at 1 p.m. Admission is free for all spectators.

The Salukis are poised to compete for both individual and team conference titles in 2018. SIU returns 11 letter winners who have previously won a conference title and 13 who have reached the podium at the conference meet with top-three finishes.

Senior All-American Warren Hazel is back after he finished 12th at the NCAA Indoor Championships last season and is one of seven from that 15-man field who returns to the oval in 2018.

While Hazel will set the pace on the track, seniors Jared Kern and Isaac Ingram will lead the Salukis in the circle. Kern took fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2017, which was the best finish by a Saluki shot putter at the indoor meet since 1979. Kern should see plenty of familiar faces at the national meet should he qualify, as last season's 16-man field featured just three seniors.

Ingram returns for his final indoor season after a junior season in which he became just the fifth Saluki male to win a MVC title in both the weight throw and the hammer throw in the same season. The Harrisburg, Ill. native, who transferred to SIU prior to his sophomore season, has finished top-three in the weight at both conference indoor meets he has competed at.

On the women's side, the track will take center stage as SIU returns all four from record-breaking outdoor 4x100 relay team and welcomes back a national qualifier on the oval as well.

Tyjuana Eason, Mystique Thompson, Shafiqua Maloney and Bri'Anna Branch all return after they won SIU's first MVC outdoor 4x100 relay title since 1989. The foursome combined to account for 36 of SIU's 89 points at the conference meet in 2017, and this year will be joined by Chrissa Harris. Harris, who returns after redshirting last season with an injury, was a national qualifier in the 400m in 2016.

SIU's talented class of newcomers will be on display on Saturday, as Johnny McGluen, Theo Phipps, Kevin Turner, BJ Croft, Alonzo Taylor-Jones, Adam Kessler, Sam Sikon, Jewell Bolden, Kayleigh Conlon, A'veun Moore-Jones, Shauniece O'Neal, Justine Paton and Tamar Mosby are all set to make their Saluki debuts.

"After a whole semester of hard work, I expect significant breakthroughs from our returning athletes on Saturday," Raske said. "The Saluki Fast Start is also a great way to see our newcomers in action for the first time as they learn how to compete."

Meet Schedule
Field Events:
10:00 a.m.
Weight Throw Women followed by Men
Shot Put             Women followed by Men
High Jump       Men followed by Women
Pole Vault          Women followed by Men
Long Jump       Men followed by Women
Triple Jump       Men followed by Women

Running Events:
1:00 p.m.
60 meters     Men   - Prelim
60 meters    Women   - Prelim
Mile Run        Men
Mile Run       Women
60m hurdles    Men    - Prelim
60m hurdles   Women   - Prelim
400 meters    Men
400 meters   Women
60 meters     Men   - Final (Top 6)
60 meters    Women   - Final (Top 6)
600m Run   Men
600m Run   Women
60m hurdles   Men       - Final (Top 6)
60m hurdles   Women   - Final (Top 6)
800 meters    Men
800 meters   Women
200 meters   Men
200 meters   Women
3000 meters    Men
3000 meters    Women
4x400m Relay     Men
4x400m Relay     Women