Salukis win nine event titles at Bill Cornell Spring Classic

Friday, March 22

Carbondale, IL

TBA

Southern Illinois University

Bill Cornell Spring Classic

03/23/2019 | 10:09:00 | Track and Field

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In addition to SIU's nine wins, Southern posted 17 top-3 finishes and notched four top-10 school marks.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University track & field team tallied nine first-place finishes at the sixth-annual Bill Cornell Spring Classic to open the 2019 outdoor season Saturday, March 23 at the Lew Hartzog Track & Field Complex.

In addition to Southern's nine first place finishes, the Salukis notched an 17 more top-3 performances and totaled four top-10 outdoor school marks.

"It was a good season opener to see where we are," Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Rosalind Joseph said. "We got to add some events and see good things from those events that weren't contested during the indoor season. So its nice to have a starting point. It looks like everyone was just as excited as I was to finally be back in uniform. I think we're building on the momentum of our indoor season."

In the circle, Southern's throwers accounted for four of SIU's nine wins and five more top-3 finishes, highlighted by the Saluki men's sweep of the three throwing events (shot put/discus/hammer throw).

Ricky Hurley got SIU's winning started Friday night with a victory in the discus. The senior thrower, who was one of 16 Salukis competing at Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex for the final time, threw 159'-5" (48.59m) on his fourth attempt to win by more than six feet. Hurley was also the runner-up in the hammer throw and placed third in the shot put.

Adam Kessler won the shot put with a personal-best toss of 64'-0.50" (19.52m). It was an impressive opening toss for the two-time MVC indoor shot put champion, who recorded the third-best toss in school history.

On the women's side, A'veun Moore-Jones set a PR in the shot put with her toss of 51'-7.25" (15.73m) to win the event. It was the 10th-best mark in SIU history and SIU claimed the top-3 spots as Kayleigh Conlon finished second and Sian Person claimed third.

Nate Dyer made it clean sweep for the Saluki men with his win in the hammer throw. Dyer threw 200-3" (61.04m) to beat out Hurley, who threw 198'-3" (60.42m) to take second.

Shauneice O'Neal was the top collegiate finisher in the women's hammer throw, as she threw a personal-best 198'-2" (60.40m) to place second. Volunteer assistant coach DeAnna Price won the event with a toss of 244'-4" (74.47m).

Southern's women's sprinters tallied three wins and a runner-up finish. Bri'Anna Branch won the 100-meter dash with her time of 11.88 while Tyjuana Eason won the 200-meter dash with her time of 24.40. Eason was one of four Salukis to place in the top-five in the event.

Branch and Eason combined with Madison Meyer and Genesis Ewell to win the women's 4x100 relay with a time of 45.45. It was the fourth-best time in school history.

SIU's women swept the hurdle events, as Madison Meyer won the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.34 while Savannah Long won the 400m hurdles with a near top-10 school mark of 1:00.65.

Southern's men's sprinters tallied three top-3 finishes, highlighted by the Saluki outdoor debut of Corey Sherrod. Sherrod took second in the 400-meter dash (48.89), third in the 200-meter dash (22.16) and combined with James Croft, Theo Phipps and Brandon Schnitker to place third in the 4x100 relay.

In the distance events, Kayla Schiera clocked the eighth-best time in SIU history in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase to finish second. Theo Hassim was the runner-up in the event on the men's side with his time of 9:54.81.

Josh Maier, who was making his debut on the track after winning the 2018 MVC cross country champion, took second in the 1500m with a personal-best time of 3:48.52.

In the high jump, Southern's men placed two in the top-three, as Willie Rodgers set a PR with his clearance of 6'-8" (2.05m) while Caleb Vogel placed third. On the women's side, Justine Paton took third with her clearance of 5'-4.25" (1.63m).

Kyle Zeinemann added a runner-up finish in the pole vault while Mitchell Bland placed third in the triple jump.

The Salukis will split up next weekend. Contingents of Salukis will compete at the Raleigh Relays, hosted by North Carolina State, as well as at the Texas Relays, hosted by the University of Texas.