Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Friday, August 31
Carbondale, Ill.
Southern Illinois University
vs
Saluki Invite
Photo by: Tom Weber
Josh Maier captures Saluki Invite Cross Country title
08/31/2018 | 8:58:00 | Cross Country
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois cross country runner Josh Maier won his fifth-career meet and helped the men's squad easily claim the title at the five-team Saluki Invite on Friday night in the first meet of the season. SIU's women came in third place.
On a hot and muggy evening, Maier completed the 5K course in 15:35.76, averaged a five-minute mile and cruised to a 15-second victory over second-place Benjamin Scamihorn of SIUE. The meet was the first Southern Illinois has hosted since 2014.
"It was kind of a shining moment of Josh's career," said SIU coach Kevin Cataldo. "For him to come back as a fifth-year senior and actually get to race on his home course, it was pretty cool for him, and to get the win was icing on the cake."
Maier, who finished 12th at the MVC Championships last season, has big goals for his final year.
"Ideally, I'd like to go for the MVC title," he said. "I was close last year. I'd like to get a qualifying bid to the NCAA Championships, and hopefully, become an All-American."
In addition to Maier, the Saluki men captured four more spots in the top 10 of the individual standings — Cain Hassim (3rd), Reid Parsons (5th), Jacob Bryan (7th) and Theo Hassim (10th).
"Reid really surprised me, really impressed me," Cataldo said. "He came in with a hamstring issue and has only really done two workouts. For him to come in and get fifth place was remarkable."
On the women's side, Cataldo was pleased with the finishes of Olivia Murphy (4th) and Megan Krolak (9th) and said freshmen Kayla Schiera (11th), Grace McDurmon (25th), Maddy Hurt (26th) and Sydney Matusik (32nd) all performed well in their first collegiate meet.
"Every course is different and ours is fairly challenging," Cataldo explained. "Then to add in heat and humidity, I'd say this one was about 10 seconds per mile slower than the pace charts just due to the weather conditions."
Cataldo thanked SIU's facility and grounds crew for their diligence in preparing the course and said he hopes to continue hosting meets in the future.
"We needed to learn how to run on our home course," he said. "Eventually, we're going to host the conference championships again and I want this to be a well-oiled machine, and I want our athletes to be able to run in front of their own fans."
TEAM SCORING SUMMARY
MEN
1 Southern Illinois 26 1-3-5-7-10(13)(30)
2 SE Missouri 70 6-11-14-19-20(26)(27)
3 Murray State 74 4-9-17-21-23(29)(31)
4 SIU Edwardsville 75 2-8-15-18-32
5 Austin Peay 99 12-16-22-24-25(28)(33)
WOMEN
1 SE Missouri 19 1-2-3-5-8(10)(12)
2 Murray State 69 7-13-14-17-18(21)(30)
3 Southern Illinois 71 4-9-11-23-24(28)(29)
4 SIU Edwardsville 93 6-15-20-25-27
5 Austin Peay 114 16-19-22-26-31(32)(33)
On a hot and muggy evening, Maier completed the 5K course in 15:35.76, averaged a five-minute mile and cruised to a 15-second victory over second-place Benjamin Scamihorn of SIUE. The meet was the first Southern Illinois has hosted since 2014.
"It was kind of a shining moment of Josh's career," said SIU coach Kevin Cataldo. "For him to come back as a fifth-year senior and actually get to race on his home course, it was pretty cool for him, and to get the win was icing on the cake."
Maier, who finished 12th at the MVC Championships last season, has big goals for his final year.
"Ideally, I'd like to go for the MVC title," he said. "I was close last year. I'd like to get a qualifying bid to the NCAA Championships, and hopefully, become an All-American."
In addition to Maier, the Saluki men captured four more spots in the top 10 of the individual standings — Cain Hassim (3rd), Reid Parsons (5th), Jacob Bryan (7th) and Theo Hassim (10th).
"Reid really surprised me, really impressed me," Cataldo said. "He came in with a hamstring issue and has only really done two workouts. For him to come in and get fifth place was remarkable."
On the women's side, Cataldo was pleased with the finishes of Olivia Murphy (4th) and Megan Krolak (9th) and said freshmen Kayla Schiera (11th), Grace McDurmon (25th), Maddy Hurt (26th) and Sydney Matusik (32nd) all performed well in their first collegiate meet.
"Every course is different and ours is fairly challenging," Cataldo explained. "Then to add in heat and humidity, I'd say this one was about 10 seconds per mile slower than the pace charts just due to the weather conditions."
Cataldo thanked SIU's facility and grounds crew for their diligence in preparing the course and said he hopes to continue hosting meets in the future.
"We needed to learn how to run on our home course," he said. "Eventually, we're going to host the conference championships again and I want this to be a well-oiled machine, and I want our athletes to be able to run in front of their own fans."
TEAM SCORING SUMMARY
MEN
1 Southern Illinois 26 1-3-5-7-10(13)(30)
2 SE Missouri 70 6-11-14-19-20(26)(27)
3 Murray State 74 4-9-17-21-23(29)(31)
4 SIU Edwardsville 75 2-8-15-18-32
5 Austin Peay 99 12-16-22-24-25(28)(33)
WOMEN
1 SE Missouri 19 1-2-3-5-8(10)(12)
2 Murray State 69 7-13-14-17-18(21)(30)
3 Southern Illinois 71 4-9-11-23-24(28)(29)
4 SIU Edwardsville 93 6-15-20-25-27
5 Austin Peay 114 16-19-22-26-31(32)(33)
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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