Salukis conclude regular season with strong performance at Bulldog Invite

Friday, February 8

Birmingham, AL

Southern Illinois University

Samford Invitational

Photo by: Tom Weber

Salukis conclude regular season with strong performance at Bulldog Invite

02/08/2019 | 10:48:00 | Track and Field

Results

SIU won nine events and tallied four top-10 school marks, including Eason’s school record in the 200m dash.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

Senior Tyjuana Eason shattered her own school record and was one of nine Salukis to win at the Bulldog Invite, hosted by Samford University Friday.

Eason won the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 24.17, which broke her own indoor record of 24.24 while Bri'Anna Branch clocked a personal-best time of 24.85 to finish fifth and move up to 10th on SIU's all-time list in the event. Eason later teamed up with Savannah Long, Julia Lutz and Genesis Ewell to win the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:46.27.

All four of Southern's top-10 school marks came on the women's side. Justine Paton cleared 5'-7" (1.70m) in the high jump to not only set a PR but she also moved into a tie for sixth on SIU's all-time high jump list. Paton finished fourth in the event Friday. A'veun Moore-Jones, meanwhile, won the shot put with the ninth-best toss in school history. Moore-Jones threw 51'-11" (15.82m) to win in the circle for the second time this season.

In addition to SIU's four top-10 school marks and nine wins, the Salukis tallied 29 season-best times/marks.

"I'm glad we're on par for where we want to be this time of the season," Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Rosalind Joseph said. "Last week I challenged our athletes' sense of urgency and warned against complacency. Today's results show their response to that challenge! There were a lot of season-best performances that will help boost confidence as we head into the conference championships."

Weekend Winners

Tyjuana Eason - 200m dash
Genesis Ewell - 400m dash
Megan Krolak - 3000m
Women's 4x400 Relay
A'veun Moore-Jones- Shot Put
Alexis Roberson - Weight Throw
Men's 4x400 relay
Canoy Tyree - 800m
Adam Kessler - shot put

The Saluki sprinters notched several season-best times Friday, led by Eason and Branch's performances in the 200m. Genesis Ewell won the 400m dash for the second time this season with a season-best time of 56.00. The mark is also the third-best in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. Megan Krolak followed with her first win in the 3K after she clocked a personal-best time of 10:00.48.

On the men's side, SIU made it a clean sweep in the 4x400 relay after James Croft, Corey Sherrod, Canoy Tyree and Johnny McGluen combined to run a season-best time of 3:17.63. Tyree joined Eason as a double-winner Friday, as he won the 800m for the second time this season with a time of 1:52.08.

Southern once again had multiple strong performances in the circle. Alexis Roberson won the weight throw for the third time this season with a toss of 66'-7.25" (20.30m). Shauniece O'Neal came in second in the weight throw with a PR of 66'-1.5" (20.15m) and later placed third in the shot put. For the Saluki men, Adam Kessler won the shot put for the third time this season and helped SIU nab the top-3 spots in the event. Ricky Hurley finished third in the weight throw to improve upon his MVC-leading mark at 61'-4" (18.69m).

Other notable performances included Johnny McGluen (22.04) and Corey Sherrod (22.65) recording season-best times in the 200m dash, Cain Hassim (8:34.35) and Jacob DeWitt (8:37.08) posting season-best times in the 3K and Madison Meyer setting a PR in the 60m hurdles at 8.92 and recording a season-best clearance of 18'-10" (5.74m) to finish second in the long jump.

The Salukis are next in action at the 2019 MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by the University of Northern Iowa. The two-day meet gets underway on Saturday, Feb. 23.