Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
USATF Sr. Championships
Eight former and current Salukis to compete at USATF Outdoor Championships
06/20/2017 | 1:52:00 | Track and Field
Eight current and former Southern Illinois track & field athletes will compete at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships and the USA Track & Field Junior Championships this week in Sacramento, Calif. with coveted spots on the national team up for grabs.
Current Saluki seniors Kyle Landon (high jump) and Freya Block (hammer throw), as well as junior Jared Kern (shot put) will compete at the USTAF Championships, beginning Thursday, June 22 and running through Sunday, June 24 at Hornet Stadium. Athletes who finish in the top three of their event, and have met the qualifying standard, will earn a spot on Team USA for the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championships Aug. 4-13 in London, England.
Landon is tied for the fourth-best clearance among entries in the men's high jump, while Kern will enter competition Sunday with the 10th-best mark in the men's shot put. Block, meanwhile, enters with a No. 14 ranking in the women's hammer throw.
SIU alums who are also slated to participate in the USATF Outdoor Championships this weekend include DeAnna Price (hammer throw), Josh Freeman (shot put), Gwen Berry (hammer throw)Â and Jeneva Stevens (hammer throw, shot put).Â
Berry owns the top hammer throw mark by an American this year, throwing 250'-10" (76.77m) in early May and will enter the weekend ranked second in the world. She is followed closely by Price, who ranks second in the U.S. and sixth in the world in the hammer. The 2016 Olympian from Moscow Mills, Mo. took second in the event at the 2015 USATF Outdoor Championships. Stevens finished fourth in the hammer at the 2015 USATF Championships, but punched her ticket to that year's IAAF Championships with a third place finish in the shot put.Â
In addition, freshman Nikki Freeman will throw both the discus and the hammer at the USATF Junior Championships, which are limited to student-athletes who are under 20 years of age as of 2018. The USATF Junior Championships will serve as the qualifier meet for the Pan American Junior Championships to be held in July in Lima, Peru. Freeman needs to finish first or second in either event to advance to Peru.Â
Thursday, June 22
Junior women's discus throw (N. Freeman) - 12:30 p.m. CT / 10:30 a.m. PT
Friday, June 23
Junior women's hammer throw (N. Freeman) - 8:30 p.m. CT / 6:30 p.m. PT
Saturday, June 24
Women's shot put (Stevens) - 2:30 p.m. CT / 12:30 p.m. PT
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Sunday, June 25
Women's hammer throw (Block, Berry, Price, Stevens) - 1:15 p.m. CT / 11:15 a.m. PT
Men's shot put (Kern, J. Freeman) - 1:55 p.m. CT / 11:55 a.m. PT
Men's high jump (Landon) - 2:05 p.m. CT / 12:05 p.m. PT
Players Mentioned
