Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Thursday, April 12
Knoxville, TN
TBA
Southern Illinois University
at
Tennessee Relays
Salukis Ready for Star-Studded Tennessee Relays
04/11/2018 | 2:05:00 | Track and Field
UT Release about Crockett RecognitionEvent ScheduleLive ResultsLive Video (Friday)Live Video (Saturday)
Saluki Hall of Famer Ivory Crockett will be recognized during the three-day meet.
The Southern Illinois track and field team will head to Knoxville, Tenn. for the star-studded Tennessee Relays beginning Thursday, April 12.
The three-day meet will feature several notable appearances from world-class athletes, including one of SIU's own track and field icons. Ivory Crockett, who set the world record in the 100-yard dash at the Tom Black Classic on May 11, 1974, will be honored prior to Friday's men's 100-meter dash at 3:30 p.m.
SIU Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Kathleen Raske and Tennessee Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Beth Alford-Sullivan, who both began their coaching careers as graduate assistants at SIU in the early 90s, brainstormed the idea as a "celebration of speed". Crockett will be presented Friday by the two current fastest men in the world, Justin Gatlin and Christian Coleman, who in addition to being Tennessee alums will also be on hand to compete.
Crockett, a 1973 graduate of Southern Illinois, burst onto the scene as a freshman when he beat John Carlos in the 100-yard dash at the 1969 AAU National Championships, and again defeated Carlos in the event the following year at the 1970 AAU Nationals. At the 1972 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Halls, Tenn. native ran 9.6 seconds in the 100 meters only to have the officials decide that no one could run that fast. His time was corrected to 9.9 seconds and considered "wind-aided", which made it ineligible as a world record. Crockett went on to run 10.1 and finish fourth at the national meet.
On May 11, 1974, Crockett, who was working as a marketing representative for IBM and competing for the Philadelphia Pioneers amateur track club at the time, won the 100-yard dash at the Tom Black Classic with a hand-timed 9.0. Four judges clocked Crockett at 9.0, 9.0, 9.1, and 8.9, which averaged out to 9.0. In doing so, Crockett established a new world record in the 100-yard dash and shattered Bob Hayes' 11-year old record of 9.1 set on June 21, 1963. Five runners had tied Hayes mark of 9.1 before Crockett bested it in 1974.Â
Crockett's record still stands, as the 100-yard dash is no longer a competed event since the sport standardized to a 400-meter track.
"We brought Ivory in for preseason camp and he spoke to our team and I got a firsthand story behind his experience and what could have been his second world record performance," Raske said. "He told our team the story of his record-setting performance and how he went to the Tom Black Classic specifically for the purpose of breaking the world record. He wrote on a little piece of paper "9.0", put it in his spike and ran the race with it there. He even rehearsed his speech to the media before he raced because he was that certain he was going to break the world record that day. It's truly a great sports story."
In addition to honoring Crockett, the meet will also feature a well-constructed attempt at breaking the American 4x100 relay record. Gatlin, a five-time Olympic medalist, and Coleman, the world record holder in the indoor 60m, will team up with Mike Rodgers and Ronnie Baker in an attempt to break the American record of 37.38, set twice by teams featuring Gatlin. Rodgers, a five-time USATF national champion, is the older brother of SIU assistant coach Alishea Usery.
As for the current Salukis, most of the team has had two weeks to prepare for the Tennessee Relays. Southern sent only 17 student-athletes to the Hilltopper Relays, hosted by Western Kentucky, on April 6. The small continent of Salukis still tallied six top-3 finishes, including wins by Bri'Anna Branch (100m dash) and Megan Krolak (3000m steeplechase).Â
The Salukis currently have nine marks that are ranked in the top-48 of the NCAA West Region, a number that Southern hopes to add to this weekend.
"Keep on qualifying more and more to the NCAA West Preliminary Round and respond to what appears to be even better competition than last year's Tennessee Relays," Raske said of her team's goals for the weekend. "It's going to be really good weather and I expect us to represent well and to step up and respond to some great competition. We also need to take advantage of the opportunity ahead of us as we might not have these opportunities the rest of the spring."
Multi events gets underway at the Tom Black Track on Thursday, April 12 at 10 a.m. before the women's hammer throw competition kicks off field events at 4 p.m. Running events begin on Friday, April 13 with the women's 400m hurdles at 2:45 p.m.
The three-day meet will feature several notable appearances from world-class athletes, including one of SIU's own track and field icons. Ivory Crockett, who set the world record in the 100-yard dash at the Tom Black Classic on May 11, 1974, will be honored prior to Friday's men's 100-meter dash at 3:30 p.m.
SIU Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Kathleen Raske and Tennessee Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Beth Alford-Sullivan, who both began their coaching careers as graduate assistants at SIU in the early 90s, brainstormed the idea as a "celebration of speed". Crockett will be presented Friday by the two current fastest men in the world, Justin Gatlin and Christian Coleman, who in addition to being Tennessee alums will also be on hand to compete.
Crockett, a 1973 graduate of Southern Illinois, burst onto the scene as a freshman when he beat John Carlos in the 100-yard dash at the 1969 AAU National Championships, and again defeated Carlos in the event the following year at the 1970 AAU Nationals. At the 1972 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Halls, Tenn. native ran 9.6 seconds in the 100 meters only to have the officials decide that no one could run that fast. His time was corrected to 9.9 seconds and considered "wind-aided", which made it ineligible as a world record. Crockett went on to run 10.1 and finish fourth at the national meet.
On May 11, 1974, Crockett, who was working as a marketing representative for IBM and competing for the Philadelphia Pioneers amateur track club at the time, won the 100-yard dash at the Tom Black Classic with a hand-timed 9.0. Four judges clocked Crockett at 9.0, 9.0, 9.1, and 8.9, which averaged out to 9.0. In doing so, Crockett established a new world record in the 100-yard dash and shattered Bob Hayes' 11-year old record of 9.1 set on June 21, 1963. Five runners had tied Hayes mark of 9.1 before Crockett bested it in 1974.Â
Crockett's record still stands, as the 100-yard dash is no longer a competed event since the sport standardized to a 400-meter track.
"We brought Ivory in for preseason camp and he spoke to our team and I got a firsthand story behind his experience and what could have been his second world record performance," Raske said. "He told our team the story of his record-setting performance and how he went to the Tom Black Classic specifically for the purpose of breaking the world record. He wrote on a little piece of paper "9.0", put it in his spike and ran the race with it there. He even rehearsed his speech to the media before he raced because he was that certain he was going to break the world record that day. It's truly a great sports story."
In addition to honoring Crockett, the meet will also feature a well-constructed attempt at breaking the American 4x100 relay record. Gatlin, a five-time Olympic medalist, and Coleman, the world record holder in the indoor 60m, will team up with Mike Rodgers and Ronnie Baker in an attempt to break the American record of 37.38, set twice by teams featuring Gatlin. Rodgers, a five-time USATF national champion, is the older brother of SIU assistant coach Alishea Usery.
As for the current Salukis, most of the team has had two weeks to prepare for the Tennessee Relays. Southern sent only 17 student-athletes to the Hilltopper Relays, hosted by Western Kentucky, on April 6. The small continent of Salukis still tallied six top-3 finishes, including wins by Bri'Anna Branch (100m dash) and Megan Krolak (3000m steeplechase).Â
The Salukis currently have nine marks that are ranked in the top-48 of the NCAA West Region, a number that Southern hopes to add to this weekend.
"Keep on qualifying more and more to the NCAA West Preliminary Round and respond to what appears to be even better competition than last year's Tennessee Relays," Raske said of her team's goals for the weekend. "It's going to be really good weather and I expect us to represent well and to step up and respond to some great competition. We also need to take advantage of the opportunity ahead of us as we might not have these opportunities the rest of the spring."
Multi events gets underway at the Tom Black Track on Thursday, April 12 at 10 a.m. before the women's hammer throw competition kicks off field events at 4 p.m. Running events begin on Friday, April 13 with the women's 400m hurdles at 2:45 p.m.
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