Saturday, February 24
Cedar Falls, Iowa
TBA
Southern Illinois University
at
MVC Indoor Championships
Track and Field Wins Four Titles on Day 2 of MVC Indoor Championships
02/25/2018 | 8:37:00 | Track and Field
The Salukis tallied four MVC titles and 14 total top-3 finishes on day two of the MVC Indoor Championships.
The Southern Illinois track and field team won four individual Missouri Valley Conference titles and totaled 14 top-3 finishes on the final day of the 2018 MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa on the campus of Northern Iowa.Â
Illinois State won both the men's and women's team titles. On the men's side, the Salukis finished third with 105 points, behind the Redbirds (182) and Indiana State (112). Northern Iowa took fourth with 86 points while Bradley (78), Drake (58), Loyola (31), and Valparaiso (11) rounded out the field.
The Saluki women tallied 90 points to finish fourth. Illinois State won with 174 points, while Indiana State (139) took second followed by UNI (103.5), Missouri State (62), Loyola (47), Drake (29.5), Bradley (17) and Evansville (1).
Isaac Ingram was named the MVC Most Outstanding Field Athlete after he won the weight throw Saturday night. Ingram makes its three-straight years that the Salukis have won the award after Kyle Landon repeated as the award's winner last year. Ingram joins Landon and SIU throws coach J.C. Lambert as the only Saluki men to have won the award since 2000.
Shafiqua Maloney was the top-point scorer for the Saluki women. Maloney tallied 26 points after she reached the podium three times Sunday, which included the program's first win in the quarter-mile in 22 years. Not to be outdone, she anchored the Salukis to their first title in the mile relay since 2005. The Old Roads, St. Kitts native also clocked a season-best time in the 200-meter dash to finish third.
Josh Maier and Ricky Hurley each scored 14 points to pace the Saluki men at the MVC indoor meet. Maier, who finished third in a highly-contested 5K Saturday night, came back to take second in the 3K on Sunday and has now earned five All-MVC honors in his career. Hurley, who was the runner-up in the weight throw Saturday, finished third in the men's shot put as the Salukis claimed the top-3 spots in the event.
The Salukis had five student-athletes medal in multiple events. Maloney, Maier and Hurley were joined by Tyjuana Eason and Mystique Thompson in doing so.
Eason, who is now a six-time All-MVC honoree, was the runner-up in the 200 meter dash and ran the third leg of SIU's 4x400 relay while Thompson, now a 10-time All-MVC honoree, and 3-time MVC Champion, finished third in the 60-meter dash, fourth in the 200m and ran the second leg of SIU's 4x400 relay.
Four Salukis won MVC titles on day two, as Marcellus Fletcher (triple jump), Maloney (400m), the women's 4x400 relay team of Alicia Reed, Thompson, Eason, and Maloney, and Adam Kessler (shot put) all made it to the top of podium on day two.
Fletcher won the triple jump with a mark of 50'-2.75" (15.31m) to set a personal-best by a foot and win his first MVC title. The sophomore transfer competed his best when it counted the most, as he led from start to finish. He opened with back-to-back jumps over 50 feet, which included a lifetime-best effort on his second jump, to secure his first career title.Â
Fletcher became the 10th Saluki male to win the triple jump at the conference indoor meet and the first to do so since Douglas Palacious in 2013.Â
Maloney became the first Saluki since Katrina Daniels in 1996 to win gold in the women's 400 meter dash. Maloney ran 55.05 to win the quarter mile on Saturday. She later clocked a personal-best time in the 200m dash at 24.38 to finish third and helped SIU rally to a win in the 4x400 relay.
Speaking of SIU's mile relay team, Alicia Reed, Thompson, Eason and Maloney clocked the third-fastest 4x400 time in school history at 3:43.35 to win the program's eighth 4x400 relay title, and Southern's first since 2005. Illinois State led for most of the race, but Maloney ran a 53.8 second split on the bell lap to make up the difference and secure the win for the Salukis.
Adam Kessler won his first career MVC title with a personal-best mark in the shot put. Kessler recorded the fourth-longest throw in program history at 62'-9.5" (19.14m) to win his third conference title after he won a pair of Ohio Valley Conference titles while at Eastern Illinois University.
The Saluki men's shot putter scored 26 of 39 possible points on the strength of four top-8 finishes. Kessler finished first, while Jared Kern took second at 62'-1" (18.92m) and Hurley threw 60'-4.5" (18.40m) to claim third. Sam Sikon scored at his first collegiate conference meet after he threw a PR of 58'-0.25" (17.69m) to place seventh.
Matthew Bigelow (heptathlon), Warren Hazel (400m), A'veun Moore-Jones (shot put) and Kezia Martin (triple jump) also finished in the top-3 of their respective events to earn All-MVC laurels.
Bigelow set personal-bests in six of seven events in the heptathlon to finish second and earn the first all-conference honor of his career. Bigelow tallied 5140 points, the most by a Saluki at the conference meet since Ryan Sidwell scored 5258 points in 2012.Â
Hazel was the runner-up in the quarter-mile for the third-straight MVC indoor meet. Hazel picked up the stagger early in the race but was edged out in a photo finish by Illinois State's Anderson Devonish. Hazel clocked a time of 47.61 to earn his sixth career All-MVC finish.Â
Moore-Jones took third in the shot put at her first MVC indoor meet to earn all-conference. Moore-Jones threw 48'-3.25" (14.71m) to tie for third. The Mount Vernon, Ill. native won the tiebreaker over Indiana State's Erin Reese on account of having a better second mark at 46'-9" (14.26m).Â
Martin earned the fourth top-3 finish at a conference meet in her career Sunday when she took third in the triple jump. The Jefferson City, Mo. native jumped 40'-11.75" (12.49m) to move from fourth to third on her final attempt and secure her spot on the podium.
Kern (shot put) and Ingram (weight throw) will next compete at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 9-10 in College Station, Texas. Kern will enter with the seventh-best mark in the NCAA in the shot put while Ingram ranks 14th in the weight.Â
The 2018 outdoor season begins on Friday, March 23 with the Bill Cornell Spring Classic. The discus will be the only event contested on Friday before beginning in earnest on Saturday with the women's hammer throw at 11 a.m.
Illinois State won both the men's and women's team titles. On the men's side, the Salukis finished third with 105 points, behind the Redbirds (182) and Indiana State (112). Northern Iowa took fourth with 86 points while Bradley (78), Drake (58), Loyola (31), and Valparaiso (11) rounded out the field.
The Saluki women tallied 90 points to finish fourth. Illinois State won with 174 points, while Indiana State (139) took second followed by UNI (103.5), Missouri State (62), Loyola (47), Drake (29.5), Bradley (17) and Evansville (1).
Isaac Ingram was named the MVC Most Outstanding Field Athlete after he won the weight throw Saturday night. Ingram makes its three-straight years that the Salukis have won the award after Kyle Landon repeated as the award's winner last year. Ingram joins Landon and SIU throws coach J.C. Lambert as the only Saluki men to have won the award since 2000.
Shafiqua Maloney was the top-point scorer for the Saluki women. Maloney tallied 26 points after she reached the podium three times Sunday, which included the program's first win in the quarter-mile in 22 years. Not to be outdone, she anchored the Salukis to their first title in the mile relay since 2005. The Old Roads, St. Kitts native also clocked a season-best time in the 200-meter dash to finish third.
Josh Maier and Ricky Hurley each scored 14 points to pace the Saluki men at the MVC indoor meet. Maier, who finished third in a highly-contested 5K Saturday night, came back to take second in the 3K on Sunday and has now earned five All-MVC honors in his career. Hurley, who was the runner-up in the weight throw Saturday, finished third in the men's shot put as the Salukis claimed the top-3 spots in the event.
The Salukis had five student-athletes medal in multiple events. Maloney, Maier and Hurley were joined by Tyjuana Eason and Mystique Thompson in doing so.
Eason, who is now a six-time All-MVC honoree, was the runner-up in the 200 meter dash and ran the third leg of SIU's 4x400 relay while Thompson, now a 10-time All-MVC honoree, and 3-time MVC Champion, finished third in the 60-meter dash, fourth in the 200m and ran the second leg of SIU's 4x400 relay.
Four Salukis won MVC titles on day two, as Marcellus Fletcher (triple jump), Maloney (400m), the women's 4x400 relay team of Alicia Reed, Thompson, Eason, and Maloney, and Adam Kessler (shot put) all made it to the top of podium on day two.
Fletcher won the triple jump with a mark of 50'-2.75" (15.31m) to set a personal-best by a foot and win his first MVC title. The sophomore transfer competed his best when it counted the most, as he led from start to finish. He opened with back-to-back jumps over 50 feet, which included a lifetime-best effort on his second jump, to secure his first career title.Â
Fletcher became the 10th Saluki male to win the triple jump at the conference indoor meet and the first to do so since Douglas Palacious in 2013.Â
Maloney became the first Saluki since Katrina Daniels in 1996 to win gold in the women's 400 meter dash. Maloney ran 55.05 to win the quarter mile on Saturday. She later clocked a personal-best time in the 200m dash at 24.38 to finish third and helped SIU rally to a win in the 4x400 relay.
Speaking of SIU's mile relay team, Alicia Reed, Thompson, Eason and Maloney clocked the third-fastest 4x400 time in school history at 3:43.35 to win the program's eighth 4x400 relay title, and Southern's first since 2005. Illinois State led for most of the race, but Maloney ran a 53.8 second split on the bell lap to make up the difference and secure the win for the Salukis.
Adam Kessler won his first career MVC title with a personal-best mark in the shot put. Kessler recorded the fourth-longest throw in program history at 62'-9.5" (19.14m) to win his third conference title after he won a pair of Ohio Valley Conference titles while at Eastern Illinois University.
The Saluki men's shot putter scored 26 of 39 possible points on the strength of four top-8 finishes. Kessler finished first, while Jared Kern took second at 62'-1" (18.92m) and Hurley threw 60'-4.5" (18.40m) to claim third. Sam Sikon scored at his first collegiate conference meet after he threw a PR of 58'-0.25" (17.69m) to place seventh.
Matthew Bigelow (heptathlon), Warren Hazel (400m), A'veun Moore-Jones (shot put) and Kezia Martin (triple jump) also finished in the top-3 of their respective events to earn All-MVC laurels.
Bigelow set personal-bests in six of seven events in the heptathlon to finish second and earn the first all-conference honor of his career. Bigelow tallied 5140 points, the most by a Saluki at the conference meet since Ryan Sidwell scored 5258 points in 2012.Â
Hazel was the runner-up in the quarter-mile for the third-straight MVC indoor meet. Hazel picked up the stagger early in the race but was edged out in a photo finish by Illinois State's Anderson Devonish. Hazel clocked a time of 47.61 to earn his sixth career All-MVC finish.Â
Moore-Jones took third in the shot put at her first MVC indoor meet to earn all-conference. Moore-Jones threw 48'-3.25" (14.71m) to tie for third. The Mount Vernon, Ill. native won the tiebreaker over Indiana State's Erin Reese on account of having a better second mark at 46'-9" (14.26m).Â
Martin earned the fourth top-3 finish at a conference meet in her career Sunday when she took third in the triple jump. The Jefferson City, Mo. native jumped 40'-11.75" (12.49m) to move from fourth to third on her final attempt and secure her spot on the podium.
Kern (shot put) and Ingram (weight throw) will next compete at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 9-10 in College Station, Texas. Kern will enter with the seventh-best mark in the NCAA in the shot put while Ingram ranks 14th in the weight.Â
The 2018 outdoor season begins on Friday, March 23 with the Bill Cornell Spring Classic. The discus will be the only event contested on Friday before beginning in earnest on Saturday with the women's hammer throw at 11 a.m.
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