Landon earns National Runner-Up honors at NCAA Championships

Friday, March 10

College Station, Texas

All Day

Southern Illinois University

NCAA Championships

03/11/2017 | 7:28:00 | Track and Field

The Chester, Ill. native claimed his fifth All-America honors Saturday.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

Kyle Landon earned First-Team All-America honors Saturday evening following his second-place finish in the high jump at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Texas A&M.

The Chester, Ill. native claimed national runner-up honors after he cleared an indoor lifetime-best of 7'-5" (2.26m) on his second attempt at the height. It not only equals his clearance from the U.S. Olympic Trials in July, but it marks the highest NCAA Championship high jump finish for the Salukis since Darrin Plab won the event at the 1992 outdoor meet.

Overall, it's the best finish by a Saluki male at a national meet since 2012, when current throws coach J.C. Lambert finished second in the weight throw.

"Kyle did a great job," SIU Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Kathleen Raske said. "He went for the win and that's what he was going after coming in. He knew he would have to jump his best, and he did. You can't ask for anything more than a lifetime-best. He's anxious to have another shot at it outdoors."

Landon was one of only eight competitors Saturday to clear the first two bars, 6'-10.75" and 7'-0.50", without a miss. He continued to set the tone for the rest of the field, as he moved through the first four heights without a scratch, and was one of four jumpers remaining when the bar moved to 7'-5" (2.26m).

Texas Tech's Trey Culver, the defending national champion, made it over 7'-5" on his first attempt while Landon did so on his second try. The two were the only jumpers remaining when the bar moved to 7'-6" (2.29m) with neither able to seal the win outright with a clearance at that height.

After both scratched on all three attempts at 7'-6" (2.29m), the championship was awarded to Culver by virtue of a second tiebreaker. With both competitors missing only once prior to the bar being moved to 7'-5", the next tiebreaker was the first to make it over the bar on the previous height. That happened to be Culver, who earned his second-straight NCAA title in the event.

"Vertical jumps come down to misses," Raske said. "(Trey Culver) didn't jump higher than (Kyle). For Kyle, the one miss was the difference in the outcome. The plan always is to make bars on the first attempts becaus we know it's the difference maker in the outcome."

Landon earned his fifth All-America honors and he is now tied with Cameron Wright for the most All-America honors earned by a Saluki high jumper. He also surpassed Wright with his clearance of 7'-5" to move into second on SIU's all-time indoor list.

As a team, the Saluki men finished in tie for 14th place with 13 points. It marks their best finish at the NCAA Indoor National Championships since 1985 when Southern's men's team finished ninth.

"Its exciting for our program," Raske said on her team's 14th place finish. "Being that this is my second year and the men just had their highest NCAA indoor finish since 1984, it's definitely a momentum builder. It's eye opening in that we want recruits and our alumni to see the kind of program we are building. A top-15 finish is both significant and exciting. We're trying to create a team that represents and carries SIU's history and tradition forward. We hope it makes our alumni proud."

The Salukis will open the 2017 outdoor season on March 17 at the Mississippi State Relays.