Track and Field concludes day one of MVC Indoor Championships

Photo by: Jarrin Williams

02/24/2018 | 9:01:00 | Track and Field

Ingram's win was one of three top-3 performances on the day for the Salukis.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

Isaac Ingram won the weight throw on day one of the 2018 MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa and was one of three Salukis to earn All-MVC honors Saturday.

Ingram, Ricky Hurley (weight throw) and Josh Maier (5,000 meter run) all earned spots on the podium on day one of the annual MVC indoor meet, as Ingram repeated as conference champion in the weight throw while Hurley was the runner-up in the event and Maier finished third in 5,000 meter run.

Ingram became the sixth thrower in Valley history, and the fourth in school history, to repeat in the weight throw at the MVC Indoor Championships with his toss of 70'-9.25" (21.57m). Hurley, meanwhile moved from ninth to seventh on SIU's all-time list with his personal-best toss of 66'-11.50" (20.41m) to finish second.

Maier earned All-MVC in the 5K with a third place finish Saturday. Maier raced near the front of the pack in what was a highly-contested 5K, with Bradley's Michael Ward pulling away late to win the title. Maier was less than two seconds behind Ward for first, and just .16 behind Indiana State's Akis Medrano for second.

It marks the fourth All-MVC finish in Maier's career and the first time he has reached the podium at the MVC indoor meet.

Outside of the finals that were contested, the Salukis had 10 student-athletes earn 13 entries into the running finals of the MVC Indoor Championship that will be held Sunday.

Shafiqua Maloney, Mystique Thompson and Warren Hazel all qualified in multiple events. Maloney clocked the fastest 400m prelim time and will also run the 200m Sunday, while Thompson ran her fastest 60m time of the season to move on in the 60m and the 200m dashes. Hazel, meanwhile, ran the fastest 400m qualifying time and finished second in his 200m heat to earn spots in both finals.

Matthew Bigelow also set personal-bests in all four contested events in the heptathlon to score 2,974 points. Bigelow posted wins in both the 60m dash and the long jump.

Southern's men are currently in third with 33 points and are behind Illinois State (44) and Indiana State (37) but ahead of Bradley (28), Drake (20), Loyola (14), UNI (12) and Valparaiso (7).

SIU's women are in seventh with nine points. Illinois State and Indiana State are tied atop the leaderboard with 44 points while UNI (40), Missouri State (24), Loyola (19), Bradley (10), and Drake (5) round out the field.

Multis
Matthew Bigelow set personal-bests in all four events contested in the heptathlon on Saturday. He totaled 2,974 points through four events on the strength of wins in the 60 meter dash and the long jump. He also tied for third in the high jump and finished seventh in the shot put.

Throws
The Salukis scored 23 total points in the weight throw, as four Salukis including Ingram and Hurley, scored in the event. Nate Dyer recorded a personal-best at 60'-3" (18.36m) to finish sixth and add three points while Adam Kessler threw 59'-9.75" to place seventh and score two points.

Two Salukis scored in the women's weight throw, led by Alexis Roberson. Roberson scored four points with a fifth place finish at 60'-7.25" (18.47m), which came on her first attempt. Shauneice O'Neal scored at her first MVC indoor meet, as she took eighth with a PR of 57'-4.25" (17.49m).

Jumps
Marcellus Fletcher set a personal-best in the long jump at 23'-3.25" (7.09m) to finish seventh in an event that saw seven of the eight who scored set season and/or personal-bests. Louis Dotson set a season-best on his second attempt to finish 10th while Theo Phipps set a lifetime-best at his first MVC indoor meet to place 13th.

Kezia Martin jumped a season-best 19'-00.50" (5.80m) to score two points with a seventh place showing in the long jump.

Distance/Mid-Distance
Luke Horton ran the fastest qualifying time in the 800m with a season-best time of 1:53.94. Both Horton and Canoy Tyree, who ran the fourth-fastest qualifying time in his first conference indoor meet, advanced to tomorrow's 800m final. On the women's side, Alex Martel ran the seventh-fastest 800m prelim time to earn a spot in Sunday's final.

The Salukis finished seventh in both the men's and the women's distance medley relay to add two points to their team totals.

Hurdles
Mesha Newbold ran a personal-best 8.57 in the 60 meter hurdles to advance to Sunday's final. while Kevin Turner ran 8.27 to also advance to Sunday's final. Theo Phipps just missed qualifying as he ran a personal-best 8.28 to place ninth.

Pole Vault
Jacob Wells and Kyle Zeinemann both just missed out on scoring in the men's pole vault, as both cleared 15'-1.50" (4.61m) but were edged out of eighth place after losing the tiebreaker to Indiana State's Antonie Howard.

Sprints
Mystique Thompson clocked her fastest 60m dash time of the season Saturday, as she ran 7.44 to advance to Sunday's final. Bri'Anna Branch ran a personal-best 7.55 to advance alongside Thompson and, in doing so, moved up to fifth on SIU's all-time list.

Salukis finished 2-3-4 in the women's 200m prelims, as both Shafiqua Maloney and Tyjuana Eason won their heats while Thompson ran a season-best 24.67 to join Maloney and Eason in Sunday's final.