Salukis Get Season Underway with Saluki Fast Start

Saturday, December 7

Carbondale, Ill.

Southern Illinois University

Saluki Fast Start

12/07/2019 | 8:14:00 | Track and Field

By: Brandon Lindholm, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois University track and field won eight individual titles to open up the 2019-20 season at the Saluki Fast Start on Saturday at the SIU Recreation Center.

"I thought it was a productive day," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Rosalind Joseph. "It was a great chance to really put on paper the things that we've been working on and gave us an opportunity to see how our coaches manage our athletes. It gave us a chance to see how our athletes manage themselves in the collegiate environment."

The day got started with the field events, where the Salukis saw a great deal of personal successes. Clint Meyer threw for a personal-best in the shot put with a mark of 62'3.25" (18.98m) for his first win of the year. Meyer's mark in the event places him seventh in school history for the shot put. Junior A'veun Moore-Jones finished third in the shot put with a mark of 51'8.25", finishing just under three inches from her personal best.

"It's good to see some of our top returners continue to buy-in and build on their performances from last year," said Joseph. "I thought both the men and women performed extremely well today."

Sophomore sprinter Corey Sherrod and standout Tyjuana Eason were both victorious in the 200m dash, while senior sprinter Devin Pringle tied eighth in program history with his winning time of 6.88 in the 60m dash.

In the hurdles, junior Theo Phipps captured his first win of the season with a 60m hurdle mark of 8.27. Senior Madison Meyer earned her first win of the year in the 400m. Her time of 57.42 was a personal-best.

The Salukis swept the individual titles in the pole vault, as juniors Kyle Zeinemann and Erin Diemer secured the victories with their marks. Diemer moved into eighth in program history by clearing 12'3.5" (3.75m), besting her previous mark of 12'2" set last season.

"I think today really gave us a glimpse of what this team is capable of," said Joseph. "We've got a lot of potential on this roster and it will continue to get stronger and stronger as the season progresses. The task will be to manage them into winter break and then to continue to build throughout the rest of the season."

The Salukis will have the rest of the month off before returning to competition on Jan. 10-11 at the Jim Green Invite, hosted by the University of Kentucky.

Complete Results