Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Lenny Lyles Invite
Salukis head to Louisville for Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational
04/25/2019 | 1:22:00 | Track and Field
The Southern Illinois track and field team travels west to Kentucky for the second-straight weekend, this time to Louisville for the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational. The two-day meet will be hosted by the University of Louisville at Cardinal Park and begins on Friday, April 26 at 2 p.m. with the women's hammer throw. Running events commence at 4:30 p.m. with the women's 100-meter hurdles prelims.
SURVEYING THE FIELD
A total of 25 teams are set to compete at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invite. Division I schools represent 22 of the 25 teams, including three Missouri Valley Conference opponents in Illinois State, Missouri State and Valparaiso.Â
The field: Louisville, Cincinnati, SIU, Illinois State, DePaul, WKU, EKU, Central Michigan, MTSU, Bowling Green, Xavier, Morehead State, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Eastern Illinois, Valparaiso, Virginia Tech, Butler, Missouri State, Ball State, Tennessee Tech, Bellarmine, Lindenwood, Vanderbilt, Vincennes, Belmont
EVENT SQUAD RANKINGS
According to the most recent USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings, the Salukis rank in the top-30 in five field events. Southern sits at sixth in both the men's shot put and women's discus. The men's hammer throwers are 10th overall, while the women's shot putters fall just outside the top-10 at No.12. The Saluki men's high jumpers are the fifth group in the top-30, as they rank 26th nationally.Â
USTFCCCA's MVC RANKINGS
There was little change for the Salukis in the second edition of the conference weekly rankings, published by the USTFCCCA. The women's team remained in third, behind Indiana State at No. 1 and Illinois State at No. 2. The men's team stayed put in fourth, as they trail Indiana State, Northern Iowa and Illinois State.Â
VALLEY THREATS
Southern leads the MVC in 11 events heading into the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invite.Â
On the men's side, Willie Rodgers leads the Valley in a team-high two events, the high jump (6'-8.75") and triple jump (49'-5.75"). At last weekend's Kentucky Invite, Nate Dyer tossed a personal-best mark of 206'-10" in the hammer throw to further his lead in the rankings.Â
Several other Salukis rank in the top-three in the MVC in one or more events. Thrower Ricky Hurley is second in the hammer (193'-3") and discus (171'-7"), while Mitchell Bland's mark of 49'-1" is just shy of Rodgers for first in the triple jump. In running events, Theo Phipps has the third-fastest 100-meter hurdles time (14.14) in the Valley.Â
For the Saluki women, Bri'Anna Branch continues to excel, as she ranks first in the 200-meter dash (23.19) and second in the 100-meter dash (11.71). Branch and teammates Madison Meyer, Tyjuana Eason and Genesis Ewell have held the fastest 4x100 time (45.45) in the MVC since outdoor season began. Savannah Long, Shauniece O'Neal and Meyer each lead the MVC in one individual event as well.Â
In distance action, Megan Krolak's winning time of 10:38.84 in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase at the Kentucky Invite was not only a PR, but also the third fastest in the MVC to date. In addition, she ranks third overall in the 5K (17:15.11).Â
* 1st in the MVCÂ
Bri'Anna Branch | 200m dash | 23.19
Savannah Long | 400m Hurdles | 1:00.40
Shauniece O'Neal | Hammer Throw | 212'-9" (64.86m)
Madison Meyer | Heptathlon | 5,118 points
Josh Maier | 10K | 28:55.43
Willie Rodgers | High Jump | 6'-8.75" (2.05m)
Caleb Vogel | High Jump | 6'-8.75" (2.05m)
Willie Rodgers | Triple Jump | 49'-5.75" (15.08m)
Adam Kessler | Shot Put | 64'-0.5" (19.52m)
Nate Dyer | Hammer Throw | 206'-10" (63.05m)
Branch, Eason, Meyer, Ewell | 4x100m dash | 45.45
MVC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
SIU has racked up eight MVC Athlete of the Week honors since the start of the 2019 outdoor season and has had at least one athlete earn MVC Weekly honors each week that it has competed this outdoor season.
3/26/19 | A'veun Moore-Jones | Field Athlete of the Week
3/26/19 | Josh Maier | Track Athlete of the Week
3/26/19 | Adam Kessler | Field Athlete of the Week
4/02/19 | Bri'Anna Branch | Track Athlete of the Week
4/16/19 | Savannah Long | Track Athlete of the WeekÂ
4/16/19 | Shauniece O'Neal | Field Athlete of the Week
4/16/19 | Willie Rodgers | Field Athlete of the Week
4/23/19 | Nate Dyer | Field Athlete of the Week
MEET SCHEDULEÂ
Friday, April 26Â
* Field Events
Women's Unseeded Hammer Throw (2 p.m.) - Emily Kern
Men's Unseeded Shot Put (2 p.m.) - Trevor Thompson, Matthew Bigelow, Peyton Taylor
Women's Long Jump (4 p.m.) - Madison Meyer, Kira Williams
Men's Long Jump (4 p.m.) - Willie Rodgers, Mitchell Bland
Women's Seeded Hammer Throw (4 p.m.) - Alexis Roberson, Shauniece O'Neal
Women's Unseeded Shot Put (4:30 p.m.) - Madison Meyer, Nikki Freeman, Kayleigh Conlon
Men's Hammer Throw (5 p.m.) - Sam Sikon, Nate Dyer, Ricky Hurley, Peyton Taylor
Women's Unseeded Pole Vault (6 p.m.) - Erin DiemerÂ
* Running EventsÂ
Women's 100m hurdle prelims (4:30 p.m.) - Madison Meyer
Men's 100m hurdle prelims (5 p.m.) - Kevin Turner, Theo Phipps
Women's 100m dash prelims (5:30 p.m.) - Tyjuana Eason, Bri'Anna Branch, Tredaja Harris
Men's 100m dash prelims (5:50 p.m.) - Matthew Bigelow, Alonzo Taylor-Jones
Women's 5K run (6:10 p.m.) - Megan Krolak, Kayla Schiera
Men's 5K run (6:50 p.m.) - Reid Parsons, Josh Maier, Michael Church
Saturday, April 27
* Field EventsÂ
Women's Javelin (10:30 a.m.) - Emma Sexton
Women's Unseeded HJ (11 a.m.) - Marissa Holmes, McKenzie Krich
Women's Unseeded Discus (12 p.m.) - Kayleigh Conlon, A'veun Moore-Jones
Men's Seeded Shot Put (12 p.m.) - Ricky Hurley, Adam Kessler
Women's Triple Jump (1 p.m.) - Emani James
Women's Seeded HJ (1 p.m.) - Justine Paton
Men's Unseeded Discus (2 p.m.) - Trevor Thompson, Matthew Bigelow, Peyton Taylor
Women's Seeded Shot Put (2 p.m.) - A'veun Moore-JonesÂ
Men's Triple Jump (3 p.m.) - Willie Rodgers, Mitchell Bland
Men's Seeded HJ (3 p.m.) - Caleb Vogel
Men's Seeded Pole Vault (3:30 p.m.) - Kyle Zeinemann
Women's Seeded Discus (4 p.m.) - Nikki Freeman, Shauniece O'Neal
Men's Unseeded HJ (4:30 p.m.) - Gunnar Galloway
Men's Seeded Discus (5 p.m.) - Ricky Hurley
* Running Events
Women's 3K Steeplechase (12 p.m.) - Maddy HurtÂ
Men's 3K Steeplechase (12:15 p.m.) - Chris Edwards, Theo Hassim
Women's 4x100 relay (12:45 p.m.) - Bri'Anna Branch, Tyjuana Eason, Genesis Ewell, Madison Meyer
Men's 4x100 relay (12:55 p.m.) - James Croft, Alonzo Taylor-Jones, Corey Sherrod, Kevin Turner
Women's 1500m run (1:05 p.m.) - Megan Krolak, Kayla Schiera
Men's 110m hurdles final (1:50 p.m.)Â
Women's 100m hurdles final (2 p.m.)Â
Women's 400m run (2:10 p.m.) - Savannah Long, Kira Williams, McKenzie Krich
Women's 100m dash final (2:40 p.m.) Â
Men's 100m dash final (2:45 p.m.)Â
Women's 800m run (2:50 p.m.) - Sydney Spranger
Men's 800m run (3:05 p.m.) - Canoy Tyree, Brandon Schnitker
Women's 200m dash (4 p.m.) - Tredaja Harris, Kira Williams
Men's 200m dash (4:25 p.m.) - Johnny McGluen, Corey Sherrod, Kevin Turner
Women's 4x400 relay (4:50 p.m.) - Savannah Long, Tyjuana Eason, Genesis Ewell, Bri'Anna Branch
Men's 4x400 relay (5 p.m.) - Corey Sherrod, Johnny McGluen, James Croft, Brandon Schnitker
Players Mentioned
