Salukis ready for final regular-season tuneup of indoor season

Friday, February 8

Birmingham, AL

Southern Illinois University

Samford Invitational

Photo by: Tom Weber

Salukis ready for final regular-season tuneup of indoor season

02/07/2019 | 12:58:00 | Track and Field

Southern heads to the Bulldog Invite in Birmingham, Ala. for one-day meet

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University track and field team will travel to Birmingham, Ala. for its final regular season tune up of the indoor season at the Bulldog Invite on Friday, Feb. 8. The one-day meet gets underway at 8 a.m. with the men's weight throw.

Meet at a Glance

Bulldog Invite | Samford University
When: Friday, Feb. 8
Full Event Schedule | Live Results | Field Heat Sheets | Track Heat Sheets

Looking at the field: Bulldog Invite

12 women's teams and 11 men's teams will send student-athletes to the Bulldog Invite. Furman, Kennesaw State, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, SIU, Samford, South Alabama, South Florida, Troy, UL-Lafayette and UT-Chattanooga will compete on both the men's and women's side while UAB will bring just a women's team.

Event Squad Rankings

• In the USTFCCCA's most recent #EventSquad rankings, Adam Kessler, Ricky Hurley, Sam Sikon and Peyton Taylor rank fourth nationally in the shot put with an average mark of 57'-6.25" (17.53m). Northern Iowa's men's shot putters currently rank No. 2 in the event.
• Southern's men's weight throwers of Hurley, Nate Dyer, Kessler and Taylor are ranked 10th nationally with an average mark of 57'-6.25" (17.53m).
• The Saluki women rank top-10 nationally in both the weight throw and the shot put.
• Southern's women's weight throwers- Alexis Roberson, Shauneice O'Neal, Emily Kern and Nikki Freeman, currently rank sixth nationally with an average mark of 62'-7.50" (19.09m).
• A'veun Moore-Jones, Sian Person, Kayleigh Conlon and O'Neal are ranked ninth nationally in the women's shot put with an average mark of 48'-3.75" (14.72m).
• SIU is also ranked in the top-25 in the men's high jump (No. 24)

Leading the Valley

The Salukis have six student-athletes with top marks in the MVC, led by Tyjuana Eason. The senior sprinter currently ranks first in both the 60m and the 200m dashes. Southern also holds the top-3 spots in the men's weight throw, as Ricky Hurley ranks first, followed by Nate Dyer and Adam Kessler. In total, Southern's men have 11 marks that rank in the top-5 in the Valley while SIU's women currently have 10 top-5 marks.

Name - Event - Time/Mark
Tyjuana Eason - 60m - 7.48
Tyjuana Eason - 200m - 24.27
Caleb Vogel - High Jump - 6'-10.75" (2.10m)
Adam Kessler - Shot Put - 63'-2.25" (19.26m)
Ricky Hurley - Weight Throw - 61'-2.75" (18.66m)
Matthew Bigelow - Heptathlon - 4919 points

Top-20 marks nationally

The Salukis have two student-athletes with top-20 national marks. Adam Kessler ranks 17th nationally in the shot put with his mark of 63'-2.25" (19.26m) while Alexis Roberson ranks 14th nationally in the weight throw with her mark of 69'-7" (21.21m) from the John Gartland Invitational.

The top-16 marks in each event qualify for the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and FIeld Championships on Mar. 8-9 at the Birmingham Crossplex- where the Salukis are competing this weekend.

Getting Recognized

Alexis Roberson and Adam Kessler were named the MVC Field Athletes of the Week after their performances at the Don DeNoon Invitational.

Roberson recorded her seventh toss of 67-plus feet on the season to finish second among collegiate competitors at the Don DeNoon Invitational. Roberson threw 67'-3.5" (20.51m) on her second attempt and she now ranks second in the Valley, and 14th nationally, in the event.

Kessler, meanwhile, won the shot put for the second-straight weekend with a personal-best toss of 63'-2.25" (19.26m). Kessler became just the third Saluki male in program history to throw 63' indoors, and currently ranks first in the MVC, and 17th nationally, in the event.

This marks the third time this season that Kessler has taken home the honor, while it is the fifth time in her career, and second time this season, that Roberson has earned the award. Southern has taken home half (5-of-10) conference field athlete of the week honors this season.

2018-19 MVC Track and Field Athlete of the Week
Dec. 11 - Johnny McGluen (Men's Track)
Jan. 15 - Adam Kessler (Men's Field)
Jan. 22 - Adam Kessler (Men's Field), Alexis Roberson (Women's Field)
Jan. 29 - N/A
Feb. 5 - Adam Kessler (Men's Field), Alexis Roberson (Women's Field)

Meet Schedule
Women's Weight Throw - 8 a.m.
Nikki Freeman, Shauneice O'Neal, Alexis Roberson, Emily Kern

Men's Weight Throw - 10:30 a.m.
Peyton Taylor, Nate Dyer, Ricky Hurley

Men's Pole Vault - 10:30 a.m.
Issiac Wingerter, Kyle Zeinemann

Women's Long Jump - 10:30 a.m.
Kira Williams, Madison Meyer

Men's Long Jump - 10:30 p.m.
Mitchell Bland, Matthew Bigelow, Theo Phipps

Women's 60m Hurdles - 11:30 a.m.
Madison Meyer, Savannah Long, Kira Williams

Women's 60m dash - 12 p.m.
Bri'Anna Branch

Men's 60m dash - 12:15 p.m.
Alonzo Taylor-Jones, Mitchell Bland, Corey Sherrod, Matthew Bigelow, Brian Glenn

Men's 60m Hurdles - 12:40 p.m.
Theo Phipps, Issiac Wingerter

Women's Shot Put - 1 p.m.
Nikki Freeman, Shauneice O'Neal, Kayleigh Conlon, Sian Person, A'veun Moore-Jones

Women's 1 mile run - 1:30 p.m.
Grace McDurmon, Maddy Hurt

Men's 1 mile run - 1:50 p.m.
Michael Church, Chris Edwards

Men's High Jump - 2 p.m.
Gunnar Galloway, Caleb Vogel

Women's High Jump - 2 p.m.
Kira Williams, Marissa Holmes, Mckenzie Krich, Justine Paton

Women's Pole Vault - 2 p.m.
Erin Diemer

Men's Triple Jump - 2 p.m.
Mitchell Bland

Women's 400m dash - 2:05 p.m.
Genesis Ewell, Savannah Long, Julia Lutz, Mckenzie Krich

Men's 400m dash - 2:25 p.m.
James Croft

Men's Shot Put - 2:30 p.m.
Peyton Taylor, Sam Sikon, Ricky Hurley, Adam Kessler

Women's 800m run - 2:45 p.m.
Amber Ruiz-Bueno, Sydney Spranger

Men's 800m run - 2:55 p.m.
Canoy Tyree, Brandon Schnitker, Issiac Wingerter

Women's 200m dash - 3:05 p.m.
Tyjuana Eason, Bri'Anna Branch

Men's 200m dash - 3:30 p.m.
Johnny McGluen, James Croft, Corey Sherrod

Women's 3000m run - 3:50 p.m.
Megan Krolak, Kayla Schiera

Men's 3000m run - 4:05 p.m.
Cain Hassim, Jacob Dewitt, Reid Parsons

Women's 4x400 Relay - 4:20 p.m.
SIU

Men's 4x400 Relay - 4:30 p.m.
SIU