Saluki Track & Field heads to Indiana State for Gibson Invitational

Friday, April 14

Terre Haute, IN

All Day

Southern Illinois University

OVC vs. MVC

Photo by: Will Becque

Saluki Track & Field heads to Indiana State for Gibson Invitational

04/13/2017 | 12:05:00 | Track and Field

Meet Schedule Live Results

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois track and field team will head to nearby Indiana State for the annual Gibson Invitational, with this year's iteration being dubbed the "MVC vs. OVC Challenge".

Southern will be joined by MVC foes Illinois State and Indiana State, as well as Ohio Valley Conference schools SIU-Edwardsville and Southeast Missouri State.

At last weekend's Tennessee Relays, the Salukis set 20 personal-bests and tallied four top-10 school marks, including a new school record in the women's 4x100 relay.

Four of SIU's 20 personal-bests came in the women's 200m, led by Tyjuana Eason. Eason is coming off of a weekend in which she helped SIU's 4x100 relay team break their own school record and tallied two more top-5 conference marks. The 4x100 relay team of Mystique Thompson, Eason, Shafiqua Maloney and Bri'Anna Branch finished with a time of 45.52, which not only broke the school record of 45.53, but was also the fastest 4x100 time in the Valley this season. Eason ran the 200-meter dash in 24.15, which is the third-best time in the MVC and the ninth-best in school history while her 100m mark of 11.85 has her ranked fourth in the Valley.

The Saluki throwers added five personal-bests, with Jared Kern's outdoor PR in the shot put leading the way. Kern earned MVC Men's Field Athlete of the Week honors after he notched the longest shot put heave in the West Region, and the fourth-longest in the NCAA, at the Tennessee Relays. The Machesney Park, Ill. native was the top collegiate finisher in the shot after he threw 64'-5.75" (19.65m) on his third attempt. Not only was it an outdoor personal-best, but it also moves the 2017 NCAA Indoor All-American up to second on SIU's all-time outdoor shot put list.

Kyle Kling almost joined Kern on SIU's top-10 outdoor shot put list, as he threw a personal-best 57'-4.75" (18.13m) to take seventh. Kling missed 10th place by just five inches.

In the hammer, Freya Block currently holds 12th-best mark in the nation after she threw 207'-4" (63.19m) at the Bill Cornell Spring Classic on March 25 – also the fifth-best mark in the NCAA West Region at the moment.

Speaking of big throws, Saluki volunteer assistant coach Josh Freeman met the world qualifying standard of 67'-3.25" (20.50m) at the Tennessee Relays with his winning mark of 67'-11.75" (20.72m). Freeman is now eligible to compete at August's 2017 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in London, Great Britain.

The action starts on Friday, April 14 in Terre Haute, Ind. with the women's hammer and men's javelin at 4:30 p.m. EST

NCAA Top-25:
4. Jared Kern - shot put - 64' 5.75" (19.65m)
6. Kyle Landon - high jump - 7' 2.5" (2.20m)
12. Freya Block - hammer throw - 207' 4" (63.19m)
24. Chad Weaver - pole vault - 17' 0.75" (5.20m)

Men's NCAA West Region Top-48:
1. Jared Kern - shot put - 64' 5.75" (19.65m)
3. Kyle Landon - high jump - 7' 2.5" (2.20m)
15. Chad Weaver - pole vault - 17' 0.75" (5.20m)
19. Kyle Landon - long jump - 24' 7.25" (7.50m)
24. Warren Hazel - 400m dash - 46.83
26. Kyle Landon - triple jump - 49' 10" (15.19m)
35. Kyle Kling - shot put - 57' 4.75" (17.49m)
40. Nathan Schuck - pole vault - 16' 5.25" (5.01m)
45. Isaac Ingram - hammer throw - 192' 7" (58.69m)

Women's NCAA West Region Top-48:
5. Freya Block - hammer throw - 207' 4" (63.19m)
27. Shafiqua Maloney - 400m dash - 54.37
35. Freya Block - discus - 163' 10" (49.95m)
36. Nikki Freeman - discus - 163' 9" (49.92m)
37. Kezia Martin - triple jump - 40' 3.25" (12.27m)
38. Cara Engel - pole vault - 12' 11.5" (3.95m)
44. 4x100 Relay - 45.52