Saluki Track and Field heads to Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational

Friday, April 28

Louisville, KY

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Southern Illinois University

Lenny Lyles Invite

Photo by: Jon Hardesty

Saluki Track and Field heads to Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational

04/28/2017 | 1:15:00 | Track and Field

Meet Program Meet Schedule 2017 Performance List

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois track and field team will compete at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational, hosted by the University of Louisville, beginning Saturday, April 29.

The Salukis will be joined at the meet by participants from Bellarmine, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Cincinnati, DePaul, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee State, Illinois State and Louisville.

After three-straight meets in which the Salukis had to battle windy conditions, with winds often times registering over the four meters per second allowed, SIU Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Kathleen Raske is hoping that the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational will give Southern a much-needed opportunity to post qualifying marks for the NCAA West Regional on May 25.

"We need good weather this weekend," Raske said. "We need to get some kids qualified for the NCAA West Regional. We're hopeful we are going to have some great competition and some great weather."

At last weekend's Kansas Relays, Southern set 20 personal-bests and won four event titles en route to a second place finish on the men's side and a third place showing for SIU's women.

"The focus was on competition and not necessarily on chasing marks," Raske said. "That is something that is really important as we prepare for our conference championship."

With three meets to go before the NCAA West Regional, Southern currently has 16 marks that rank in the top-48 of the NCAA West Region. Reigning MVC Men's Field Athlete of the Week Kyle Landon is responsible for three of those marks, as he is the only athlete, male or female, to currently rank in the top-20 of the high jump, long jump and triple jump in either region. He ranks third in the region in the high jump, 15th in the long jump and 19th in the triple.

Jared Kern joins Landon as Salukis with top-5 regional marks. Kern's shot put toss of 64'-5.75" (19.65m) at the Tennessee Relays on April 7 remains the third-best in the region. Fellow Machesney Park, Ill. product Kyle Kling also ranks in the top-48 of both the shot put and the discus, as he sits at No. 44 in the shot and No. 29 in the discus. Ricky Hurley moved past Kling and up to 22nd on the NCAA West Region discus list after he threw 179'-5" (54.70m) at the Kansas Relays.

Freya Block is sixth in the hammer throw in the NCAA West Region after she won the event at the Kansas Relays. Block's winning heave measured 200'-7" (61.15m) and marked her second throw over 200' this season. The Neposet, Ill. native also ranks 43rd in the discus, and is joined by freshman Nikki Freeman, who has the 44th-best throw in the region.

Southern currently has three pole vaulters with qualifying marks. Chad Weaver and Nathan Schuck are tied for 16th in the NCAA West Region after they both cleared 17'-1.75" (5.23m) at the Gibson Invitational on April 15, while Cara Engel holds at No. 46 with her vault of 12'-11.5" (3.95m) at the Joey Haines Invite on April 1.

On the track, Warren Hazel ran a season-best 46.76 to win the 400m at the Kansas Relays. The defending MVC Outdoor 400m Champion moved up to 34th in the NCAA West Region with his time. Shafiqua Maloney, meanwhile, won the 400m for the first time this outdoor season at the Kansas Relays, as she crossed the finish line in 54.92. She also helped the Saluki women's 4x100 relay team to a runner-up finish that saw the quartet break their own school record with a time of 45.35. The Old Roads, St. Kitts native currently has the top 400m time in the Missouri Valley Conference and ranks 48th in the NCAA West Region.

Kezia Martin, who has not competed since April 1 due to injury, sits at No. 48 in the triple jump.

The women's and men's hammer throw will be contested Friday starting at 2:30 p.m. Saturday's meet is scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. with the women's javelin. Running events are slated to start at 12 p.m.