Friday, May 11
Terre Haute, Ind.
TBA
Southern Illinois University
at
MVC Outdoor Championships
Saluki women tie for second, men finish fourth at 2018 MVC Outdoor Championships
05/13/2018 | 8:52:00 | Track and Field
Shafiqua Maloney earned Most Valuable Track Athlete after she won the 200-, 400-meter dashes and helped SIU sweep the relay events.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind.. - The Southern Illinois women's and men's track and field teams finished in a tie for second and fourth respectively at the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, hosted by Indiana State University.Â
The Saluki women recorded 160 points to tie with Indiana State to tie for second. Illinois State won the team title with 191.50. The runner-up finish equaled SIU's best finish at a conference outdoor meet since 2011, when Southern also finished second. On the men's side, Northern Iowa took home the team title with 170 points, as the Panthers edged out Illinois State by one point. Indiana State (143), SIU (125) and Drake (75) rounded out the top-five.
Shafiqua Maloney won both the 200m and 400m dashes and helped Southern sweep the relays events for the second-straight season. Maloney accounted for 40 of SIU's 160 points and was honored as both the MVC Most Outstanding Female Track Athlete and the Most Valuable Track Athlete. Maloney is the first Saluki to win the Most Outstanding Track Athlete award since the Valley began giving out the award in 2001 while she is just the fourth Saluki female, and first since Jeneva McCall in 2012, to take home Most Valuable Athlete honors. She is just the fifth female in MVC history to win both the 200m and the 400m at the conference outdoor meet.
Ricky Hurley also claimed MVC Most Valuable Field Athlete honors after he won both the hammer throw and the discus to go along with a fourth place finish in the shot put. Hurley scored 25 points to become the fourth Saluki to claim the honor since the award began in 2001.
Jared Kern also earned the MVC Most Outstanding Male Field Athlete after he won the shot put with a conference-record toss of 66'-10.75" (20.39m) on Saturday.
SIU also won nine titles and tallied 16 top-3 finishes on Sunday.
The Salukis won their second-straight 4x100 relay title with a time of 44.59. The quartet of Genesis Ewell, Shafiqua Maloney, Tyjuana Eason and Bri'Anna Branch claimed Southern's fourth all-time title in the event and became the first team to repeat as quarter-mile relay champs since Illinois State won four-straight sprint relay titles from 2005-08.
Southern also defended it's crown in the women's 4x400 relay to sweep the women's relay events. Ewell, Chrissa Harris, Eason and Maloney combined to break the facility record at 3:38.10. Maloney ran a :53.3 split on the anchor leg to help the Salukis complete the indoor/outdoor sweep of the event. It's the ninth title in school history in the event, which is second to only Missouri State (11) for most in conference history.
It marks the 17th time in Valley history that a school has won both the women's 4x100 and the 4x400 at the conference meet, and the first time since 2006 that a program has won both in back-to-back seasons.
Shafiqua Maloney won her first 400m outdoor title after she blistered the track with a lifetime-best time of 53.19. Not only was it a lifetime-best but it broke the Gibson Track and Field Complex facility record. Maloney became the ninth athlete in the last 10 years to sweep the MVC Indoor/Outdoor 400m titles.
Southern went 1-2-3 in the 200m dash, as Maloney broke her second facility record of the meet with her time of 23.19. Eason claimed her second runner-up finish of the afternoon after she ran 23.30 in the event. Eason broke the school record in the 100m at 11.50 to earn runner-up honors in that event as well and the Kankakee, Ill. native is now a 10-time All-MVC honoree with her haul from Sunday. Branch finished fourth in the 100m at 11.55 and is now a five-time all-conference honoree after she took third in the 200m with her personal-best time of 23.36.
Warren Hazel made it a clean sweep for the Salukis in the quarter-mile, as he won his third-straight MVC outdoor title in the event. The Old Roads, St. Kitts native followed Maloney's lead, as he too broke the facility record with a personal-best time of 45.95. Hazel became just sixth three-time winner of the 400m in MVC history dating back to 1908 and the first since UNI's Terrence Reid won three-straight 400m titles from 2007-09. Hazel joins Erick Pegues (1988-90) as the only Salukis to win three-straight MVC 400m titles.
Mesha Newbold ran a lifetime-best 58.87 to win her first career MVC title in the 400m hurdles. It is SIU's 4th MVC title in the event all-time and the first since Meredith Hayes won the event in 2011. Newbold's time ranks her second in school history.
Hurley won his second MVC title with a win in the discus. The Fox River Grove, Ill. native threw 182'-3" (55.54m) to become just the third male in MVC history to win both the discus and the hammer throw at the same conference meet. Hurley joins Ron Harrer, who won both at the 1987 MVC Outdoor Championships, as the only Salukis to have done so.
Nikki Freeman earned the first All-MVC honor of her career after she finished second in the discus. Freeman threw a season-best 162'-6" (49.51m) on her final attempt to place second to Illinois State's Sydney Laufenberg. The Fox River Grove, Ill. native was one of four Salukis to score in the event. Kayleigh Conlon threw a lifetime-best 157'-1" (47.87m) to finish fourth, while Alexis Roberson took sixth and Shauniece O'Neal scored in her second event of the meet with her eighth place finish.
In the jumps, Kezia Martin claimed her third MVC triple jump title with a clearance of 40'-11.75. The Jefferson City, Mo. native is just the sixth female in MVC history to win at least two MVC outdoor triple jump titles, and the first since SIU alumna Malaikah Love won back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.
Marcellus Fletcher won the triple jump with a lifetime-best clearance of 51'-00 (15.54m). Fletcher became the seventh athlete in the last 15 years to sweep the indoor and outdoor triple jump competitions. All time, it was the 15th time in 33 years that an athlete has swept both. Fletcher joins Douglas Palacious (2013) and Leonard Vance (1989, 1990) as the only Salukis to sweep the MVC triple jump competitions.
Louis Dotson joined Fletcher on the podium for the triple jump, as the senior from Rockford, Ill. native claimed his first All-MVC honor at his final conference meet. Dotson jumped 48'-8.75" (14.85m) to record his best finish at a conference meet with his third-place showing.
Luke Horton secured his first career All-MVC honor with a gutsy performance in the 1500m. Horton raced at the front of the pack for much of the first three laps and made his move on the bell lap, going from fourth to second. The Harrisburg, Ill. native clocked a lifetime-best time of 3:49.64 to finish second to Illinois State's Jack Antsy.
The Salukis that qualify for the NCAA West Regional will head to Sacramento, Calif. on May 24 for the three-day regional event.
The Saluki women recorded 160 points to tie with Indiana State to tie for second. Illinois State won the team title with 191.50. The runner-up finish equaled SIU's best finish at a conference outdoor meet since 2011, when Southern also finished second. On the men's side, Northern Iowa took home the team title with 170 points, as the Panthers edged out Illinois State by one point. Indiana State (143), SIU (125) and Drake (75) rounded out the top-five.
Shafiqua Maloney won both the 200m and 400m dashes and helped Southern sweep the relays events for the second-straight season. Maloney accounted for 40 of SIU's 160 points and was honored as both the MVC Most Outstanding Female Track Athlete and the Most Valuable Track Athlete. Maloney is the first Saluki to win the Most Outstanding Track Athlete award since the Valley began giving out the award in 2001 while she is just the fourth Saluki female, and first since Jeneva McCall in 2012, to take home Most Valuable Athlete honors. She is just the fifth female in MVC history to win both the 200m and the 400m at the conference outdoor meet.
Ricky Hurley also claimed MVC Most Valuable Field Athlete honors after he won both the hammer throw and the discus to go along with a fourth place finish in the shot put. Hurley scored 25 points to become the fourth Saluki to claim the honor since the award began in 2001.
Jared Kern also earned the MVC Most Outstanding Male Field Athlete after he won the shot put with a conference-record toss of 66'-10.75" (20.39m) on Saturday.
SIU also won nine titles and tallied 16 top-3 finishes on Sunday.
The Salukis won their second-straight 4x100 relay title with a time of 44.59. The quartet of Genesis Ewell, Shafiqua Maloney, Tyjuana Eason and Bri'Anna Branch claimed Southern's fourth all-time title in the event and became the first team to repeat as quarter-mile relay champs since Illinois State won four-straight sprint relay titles from 2005-08.
Southern also defended it's crown in the women's 4x400 relay to sweep the women's relay events. Ewell, Chrissa Harris, Eason and Maloney combined to break the facility record at 3:38.10. Maloney ran a :53.3 split on the anchor leg to help the Salukis complete the indoor/outdoor sweep of the event. It's the ninth title in school history in the event, which is second to only Missouri State (11) for most in conference history.
It marks the 17th time in Valley history that a school has won both the women's 4x100 and the 4x400 at the conference meet, and the first time since 2006 that a program has won both in back-to-back seasons.
Shafiqua Maloney won her first 400m outdoor title after she blistered the track with a lifetime-best time of 53.19. Not only was it a lifetime-best but it broke the Gibson Track and Field Complex facility record. Maloney became the ninth athlete in the last 10 years to sweep the MVC Indoor/Outdoor 400m titles.
Southern went 1-2-3 in the 200m dash, as Maloney broke her second facility record of the meet with her time of 23.19. Eason claimed her second runner-up finish of the afternoon after she ran 23.30 in the event. Eason broke the school record in the 100m at 11.50 to earn runner-up honors in that event as well and the Kankakee, Ill. native is now a 10-time All-MVC honoree with her haul from Sunday. Branch finished fourth in the 100m at 11.55 and is now a five-time all-conference honoree after she took third in the 200m with her personal-best time of 23.36.
Warren Hazel made it a clean sweep for the Salukis in the quarter-mile, as he won his third-straight MVC outdoor title in the event. The Old Roads, St. Kitts native followed Maloney's lead, as he too broke the facility record with a personal-best time of 45.95. Hazel became just sixth three-time winner of the 400m in MVC history dating back to 1908 and the first since UNI's Terrence Reid won three-straight 400m titles from 2007-09. Hazel joins Erick Pegues (1988-90) as the only Salukis to win three-straight MVC 400m titles.
Mesha Newbold ran a lifetime-best 58.87 to win her first career MVC title in the 400m hurdles. It is SIU's 4th MVC title in the event all-time and the first since Meredith Hayes won the event in 2011. Newbold's time ranks her second in school history.
Hurley won his second MVC title with a win in the discus. The Fox River Grove, Ill. native threw 182'-3" (55.54m) to become just the third male in MVC history to win both the discus and the hammer throw at the same conference meet. Hurley joins Ron Harrer, who won both at the 1987 MVC Outdoor Championships, as the only Salukis to have done so.
Nikki Freeman earned the first All-MVC honor of her career after she finished second in the discus. Freeman threw a season-best 162'-6" (49.51m) on her final attempt to place second to Illinois State's Sydney Laufenberg. The Fox River Grove, Ill. native was one of four Salukis to score in the event. Kayleigh Conlon threw a lifetime-best 157'-1" (47.87m) to finish fourth, while Alexis Roberson took sixth and Shauniece O'Neal scored in her second event of the meet with her eighth place finish.
In the jumps, Kezia Martin claimed her third MVC triple jump title with a clearance of 40'-11.75. The Jefferson City, Mo. native is just the sixth female in MVC history to win at least two MVC outdoor triple jump titles, and the first since SIU alumna Malaikah Love won back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.
Marcellus Fletcher won the triple jump with a lifetime-best clearance of 51'-00 (15.54m). Fletcher became the seventh athlete in the last 15 years to sweep the indoor and outdoor triple jump competitions. All time, it was the 15th time in 33 years that an athlete has swept both. Fletcher joins Douglas Palacious (2013) and Leonard Vance (1989, 1990) as the only Salukis to sweep the MVC triple jump competitions.
Louis Dotson joined Fletcher on the podium for the triple jump, as the senior from Rockford, Ill. native claimed his first All-MVC honor at his final conference meet. Dotson jumped 48'-8.75" (14.85m) to record his best finish at a conference meet with his third-place showing.
Luke Horton secured his first career All-MVC honor with a gutsy performance in the 1500m. Horton raced at the front of the pack for much of the first three laps and made his move on the bell lap, going from fourth to second. The Harrisburg, Ill. native clocked a lifetime-best time of 3:49.64 to finish second to Illinois State's Jack Antsy.
The Salukis that qualify for the NCAA West Regional will head to Sacramento, Calif. on May 24 for the three-day regional event.
Players Mentioned
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and FieldSprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field9.24.25 | Saluki Football Podcast - Bye Week
Thursday, September 25
9.24.25 | Saluki Chats in Chevies - DJ Williams
Wednesday, September 24
Inside Saluki Athletics - September 23rd
Wednesday, September 24
9.15.25 | Saluki Spotlight Presented by SIU Alumni Association: Penny Warner (Soccer)
Wednesday, September 24