Saluki Track and Field set for 2017 MVC Outdoors

Friday, May 12

Wichita, Kan.

All Day

Southern Illinois University

MVC Outdoor Championships

05/11/2017 | 2:13:00 | Track and Field

ESPN3 (Friday)ESPN3 (Saturday)ESPN3 (Sunday)Live Results Heat/Lane Assignments Schedule of Events

Competition begins Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois track & field team travels to Wichita, Kan. to compete at the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Wichita State University, beginning Friday, May 12.

The Saluki men will be looking for their first MVC outdoor championship since 2015 while SIU's women will try to take home an outdoor conference title for the first time since 2010.

Wichita State, the defending outdoor men's and women's champions, have been picked as the favorite in both men's and women's competition this week in the MVC's Pre-Championship Poll. SIU has been tabbed to finish third on the men's side and fourth in women's competition.

A year ago, SIU's men claimed runner-up honors and the Saluki women finished third. Southern claimed seven event titles and 18 top-three finishes. The Most Outstanding Male Field Athlete award went to Kyle Landon, while DeAnna Price earned Most Outstanding Female Field Athlete of the meet. SIU has swept the MVC outdoor field awards at each of the past two championship meets.

Last season, Landon became the fifth field athlete in MVC history to earn Most Outstanding Male Field Athlete honors at both the conference's indoor and outdoor championship meets in the same season. The five-time All-American joined Illinois State's Cedric Chapman (1995-96) and Tom Barrett (1998-99, 1999-2000), Wichita State's Paul Speers (2003-04) and UNI's Raven Cepeda (2005-06). The Chester, Ill. native, who also claimed the Most Outstanding Field Athlete award at the 2017 MVC Indoor Championships, could join Barrett as the only male field athletes in Valley history to sweep the honors in back-to-back seasons since the conference began giving out the award in 1992.

It won't be the only history that Landon chases this weekend, as he will vie for his Valley-record eighth MVC high jump title on Saturday. At the 2017 MVC Indoor Championships, Landon joined Saluki legend Stephen Wray (1981-84) as the only four-time MVC Indoor high jump champions, and his seventh MVC high jump title tied him with Indiana State's Major Clay (2009-12) for most in Valley history.

In addition to holding the top high jump clearance in the Valley this season, Landon also ranks first in the triple jump with his lifetime-best mark of 51'-1.5" (15.58m) from the Kansas Relays. The Salukis have won four of the last five MVC outdoor triple jump titles, including back-to-back wins by Luke James in 2014 and 2015.

Speaking of the triple jump, Kezia Martin won her first outdoor conference title in the event last year and could become the sixth female jumper in Valley history, and the third in program history, to repeat as outdoor champion dating back to 1987. As the reigning MVC Indoor champion in the triple jump, history is on Martin's side to repeat. The conference's indoor triple jump champion has gone on to win half (15-of-30) of the MVC's outdoor titles dating back to 1987.

Warren Hazel won his first MVC title in the 400m at the 2016 MVC Outdoor Championships. The sophomore from Old Roads, St. Kitts comes into the meet ranked first in the Valley in the 400m after he ran 46.76 at the Kansas Relays on Apr. 22. He can become Southern's first repeat champion in the event since Erick Pegues won three-straight 400m titles from 1988-90.

SIU swept the pole vault titles at the 2017 MVC Indoor Championships, as Chad Weaver and Cara Engel each won their first career conference titles. Engel could become the first Saluki to win a MVC outdoor title in the event since the conference began contesting it in 2000. If she does so, she would become the seventh Valley vaulter in 18 tries to win an indoor and outdoor title in the same season. Weaver, meanwhile, could become the 10th Saluki male, and the 24th vaulter in Valley history dating back to 1968, to complete the season sweep of the pole vault. Engel's clearance of 12'-11.5" (3.95m) from the Joey Haines Invite on Apr. 1 is the best in the MVC this season, while Weaver and Nathan Schuck are tied atop the Valley with their mark of 17'-1.75" (5.23m) set at the Gibson Invitational on Apr. 14.

Freya Block, who also won her first career MVC title in the weight throw at this year's indoor championships, has led the Valley in the hammer throw from start to finish this season. She opened by throwing 207'-04" (63.19m) at the Bill Cornell Spring Classic on March 25, which is not only the top mark in the Valley but it is tied for the sixth-best toss in the NCAA West Region. Block can continue Southern's recent dominance in the event, as the Salukis have won 10 of the past 12 MVC hammer throw titles, including back-to-back titles by 2016 Olympian DeAnna Price in 2015 and 2016.

The Saluki women's 4x100 relay team of Mystique Thompson, Shafiqua Maloney, Tyjuana Eason and Bri'Anna Branch come into the conference meet with the second-fastest time in the conference this season at 44.61. They will face stiff competition from the Wichita State Shockers, who hold the top quarter-mile relay time at 44.57. SIU's women haven't won the event since 1989.

Eason and Thompson are two of the busiest Saluki sprinters at the outdoor championships, with both scheduled to run four events. Eason is fresh off running the fastest 200m time in the MVC at the Ole Miss Classic, as she ran 23.70 to place second. Eason and Thompson will try to win SIU's first 100m and/or 200m title outdoors since Traci Davis won both in 1989.

Competition begins Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m. Links for live results as well as ESPN3 broadcast links can be found above.