Saluki Men Lead MVC Indoor Championships after Day One

02/25/2017 | 11:06:00 | Track and Field

Three Salukis win MVC titles on Day One of MVC Championships.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The Southern Illinois men's track & field team is in first place after day one of competition at the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Salukis earned 40 points with three top-three finishes across five events Saturday.

Southern Illinois leads Wichita State, who has 37 points. Illinois State, Bradley and Northern Iowa are all tied for third with 25 points, while Indiana State is in sixth with 22 points. Drake (12) and Loyola (9) round out the men's field.

On the women's side, Southern is tied with Indiana State for fourth with 21 points. The Shockers, picked to win both the men's and women's indoor MVC championships in the pre-championship poll, lead the way with 60 points. Northern Iowa is in second with 29 points, followed by Illinois State (27), SIU (21), Indiana State (21), Missouri State (13), Bradley (12), Loyola (7) and Drake (5)

A bulk of SIU's points on opening day came from three events – weight throw, pole vault and long jump.

Freya Block won the weight throw Saturday with a mark of 63'-7" (19.38m). She showed why she has led the Valley in the event all season, as she led Saturday's competition from start to finish. The Neposet, Ill. native got her first throw in at 63'-1" (19.23m) to take the lead, and hit her winning mark on her sixth and final attempt.

With Block's win, the Salukis have now won half (11-of-22) of the MVC weight throw titles since the event began in 1996.

Isaac Ingram made it a clean sweep for the Salukis after he also won his first career MVC title in the weight. Ingram wasted little time proving himself worthy of the No. 1 spot as his first toss, 62'-10" (19.17m), put him in the lead, and he advanced to the final with his first of three throws that measured over 67'. His winning toss of 69'-6.25" (21.19m) came on his sixth attempt, and was just half an inch short of his personal-best.

Chad Weaver won the pole vault with the fourth-best clearance in school history as he sailed over 17'-1.50" (5.22m) on his third attempt at the height. It's the first MVC title for Weaver, and the first by a Saluki male pole vaulter since Ryan Sidwell won in 2013. He also became the first Saluki to clear 17' indoors since Cody Doerflein did so in 2012.

Kyle Landon was the runner-up in the men's long jump with a personal-best mark of 24'-5.75" (7.46m). It's the ninth All-MVC honor for Landon, and his second-straight top-3 finish in the indoor long jump after he took third a year ago. Franklin Adams added three points to SIU's total with a sixth place finish.

Outside of the finals that were contested, the Salukis had eight student-athletes earn 12 entries into the running finals of the MVC Indoor Championship that will be held Sunday.

Qualifying was highlighted by three Salukis that produced the top time for their event, including Warren Hazel (48.66) in the 400m, Tyjuana Eason (24.54) in the 200m and Lucas Horton (1:53.61) in the 800m.

Hazel and Eason were two of four Salukis to qualify in two events, as Eason paired her top 200m mark with the sixth-best 60m qualifying time on the day at 7.55. Hazel will represent the men's side in the 200m as well as the 400m, while Bri'Anna Branch and Mystique Thompson will join Eason in both the 60m and 200m finals.

The final day of competition begins tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. with the completion of the men's heptathlon. Field events are slated to get underway at 11 a.m.