Salukis to host Bill Cornell Spring Classic

Friday, March 22

Carbondale, IL

TBA

Southern Illinois University

Bill Cornell Spring Classic

Photo by: Will Becque

03/21/2019 | 12:29:00 | Track and Field

10 teams, including regional counterparts Illinois, DePaul and Purdue, will compete at Lew Hartzog T&F Complex this weekend.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University track and field team will open the 2019 outdoor season when it hosts the sixth-annual Bill Cornell Spring Classic at the Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex on Saturday, March 23.

Admission is free to all spectators and the meet begins in earnest Friday evening with the men's and women's discus competition at 3:30 p.m. followed by the women's and men's triple jump competition. Saturday's festivities begin at 11 a.m. with the women's hammer throw. Events on the track begin at 12:30 p.m.

Southern returns to action for the first time in a month after it nabbed seven MVC individual titles and tallied 16 top-3 finishes at the 2019 MVC Indoor Championships on Feb. 23-24. Adam Kessler was named the MVC Most Outstanding Men's Field Athlete after he won both the weight throw and the shot put competitions. Tyjuana Eason was the top-point scorer on the women's side, as she won three MVC titles including SIU's first-ever women's 60m dash title.

"I'm just ready to kick the outdoor season off and get back into the swing of things," Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Rosalind Joseph said. "It seems like we've been off forever, so I'm just ready for our students to be back in uniform."

The Bill Cornell Spring Classic honors three-time All-American and two-time NCAA Runner-Up Bill Cornell (1962-65), who went on to enjoy a successful coaching career at Southern from 1982-2000. Cornell was named the MVC Coach of the Year nine times during his 18 years at the helm, and coached 21 All-Americans, four Olympians, three NCAA champions and one NCAA runner-up. Cornell passed away on March 27, 2016 after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Saturday's meet will also serve as the final home competition for Southern's 17 seniors. Nate Dyer, Matthew Bigelow, Gunnar Galloway, Isaac Wingerter, Tyjuana Eason, Megan Krolak, Alicia Reed, Sasha Lanning, Josh Maier, Kevin Turner, Mitchell Bland, Bri'Anna Branch, Cain Hassim, Ricky Hurley, Adam Kessler, Justine Paton and Luca Palasti will compete at the Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex for the final time of their Saluki careers.

"Enjoy it," Joseph said in regards to her message to her graduating seniors. "Be in the moment and have fun with it. Your final season should be joyful, not stressful!"

10 Division I teams are scheduled to compete at the sixth edition of the Bill Cornell Spring Classic, including student-athletes from Purdue, Illinois, DePaul, Bradley, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, SIUE, Valparaiso and Evansville.

Fans can look forward to the addition of several events specific to the outdoor season. The Salukis throwers will have their first cracks at top marks in the hammer, discus and javelin, while the 100 meter dash, the 110m and 400m hurdles, the 3000m steeplechase and the 4x100m relay are all on the docket for Saturday's meet.

A full meet schedule is available here and live results can be viewed once the meet begins here.