Track and Field wins five titles on final day of MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships

Saturday, February 23

Cedar Falls, Iowa

Southern Illinois University

MVC Indoor T&F Championships

Track and Field wins five titles on final day of MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships

02/24/2019 | 6:54:00 | Track and Field

Photo Gallery (1)Photo Gallery (2)

The Salukis tallied five titles and 10 total top-3 finishes on day two of the conference indoor championships.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois track and field team won five individual Missouri Valley Conference titles and tallied five other top-3 finishes on the final day of the 2019 MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa on the campus of Northern Iowa.

Illinois State won both the men's and women's team titles. On the women's side, the Salukis finished third with 95 points, behind the Redbirds (173) and Indiana State (141). Northern Iowa took fourth with 78.5 points while Loyola (60.5), Missouri State (60), Bradley (41), Drake (8) and Valparaiso (6) rounded out the field.

The Saluki men tallied 79 points to finish fifth. Illinois State won with 159 points, while Northern Iowa (144.5) took second followed by Indiana State (95.5), Bradley (86), SIU, Drake (52), Loyola (38) and Valparaiso (8).

"I hope I didn't come off hard on our team, because I spoke to them immediately after the trophy ceremony," Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Rosalind Joseph said. "I'm just really passionate about being on the winner's stand. But like I told them: they fought. We had some really great performances. Anytime you walk out of the arena with champions, you really cant ask for any more than that. The energy of our team was good. Their support of one another was great. At the end of the day, it was a good welcome for me to the MVC."

Adam Kessler was named the MVC Most Outstanding Men's Field Athlete after he won both the weight throw and the shot put competitions. Kessler makes it four-straight years that the Salukis have won the award. Kessler joins, Isaac Ingram, Kyle Landon and J.C. Lambert as the only Saluki men to have won the award since 2000.

Kessler won his second-straight MVC shot put title by breaking his own meet record with a toss of 63'-7.75" (19.40m). He became the first Saluki since Lambert in 2010 to win both the MVC shot put and weight throw competitions.

Tyjuana Eason was the top-point scorer for the Saluki women. Eason helped score 30 points, as she won three MVC titles Sunday. The Kankakee, Ill. native won the program's first-ever women's 60m dash title with a school record time of 7.38. Her day was just beginning, however, as she returned later to break her own school record in the 200m dash with a winning time of 24.12. In doing so, she became just the 15th woman in MVC history to win both the 60m and 200m dashes at the same conference meet.

Eason finished out her day by helping SIU repeat as 4x400 relay champs for the first time since 1996. The now 13-time All-MVC honoree combined with Savannah Long, Julie Lutz and Genesis Ewell to win the mile relay with a time of 3:44.00.

Willie Rodgers brought home SIU's fifth MVC title of the day in the triple jump. Competing for the first time in over a month, Rodgers won the event on his last attempt. Rodgers cleared a personal-best 49'-8.50" (15.15m) on his sixth, and final attempt, and tallied four jumps Sunday that were better than his previous personal-best mark. In doing so, he became the 11th MVC men's indoor triple jump champion in program history.

Canoy Tyree (800m), Theo Phipps (60m hurdles), Caleb Vogel (high jump) and Genesis Ewell (400m) all reached the medal stand in individual events for the first time in their careers.

Tyree became the first Saluki male since 2012 to reach the medal stand in the 800m with a time of 1:54.82.

Phipps, who scored in the long jump with a fifth place finish on Saturday, earned his first career All-MVC honor after he took third in the 60-meter hurdles. Phipps clocked his second-straight PR in the event with a time of 8.05.

Vogel's breakthrough sophomore campaign continued Sunday with his first trip to the conference medal stand. The Du Quion, Ill. native cleared 6'-10.25" (2.09m), the same as Illinois State's Francis Ehigbai, but lost the tiebreaker on account of having more misses.

Ewell, who has helped SIU win four relay titles during her career, reached the podium as an individual for the first time Sunday. Ewell clocked a season-best time of 55.81 in the 400m dash to finish third.

Bri'Anna Branch (60m) also finished in the top-3 to earn All-MVC laurels.

Branch ran a season-best time of 24.61 in the 200m dash to claim third and earn her sixth career All-MVC honor. Branch also added five points to SIU's team total with a fourth place finish in the 60m dash.

The 2019 outdoor season begins on Friday, March 22 with the Bill Cornell Spring Classic.