Southern Illinois University
MVC Championships
Salukis start strong at MVC Outdoor Championships
05/10/2019 | 9:30:00 | Track and Field
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Southern Illinois men's and women's track and field program took home one event title and added seven point-scoring performances across seven finals events at the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday.
The men's team sits in fourth place out of seven teams through four events scored, while the Saluki women are in fifth through three events.
Ricky Hurley's victory in the hammer throw highlighted day one at the Gibson Track and Field Complex.
Hurley captured his second-straight Valley title in the hammer with a toss of 204'-10" (62.32m). The closest opposing mark was more than 10-feet shorter than Hurley's. With the win, he became the sixth male thrower in MVC history to win back-to-back titles in the event and just the second in SIU history. The only other Saluki that had accomplished the feat was Southern throws coach J.C. Lambert.
Hurley was accompanied by Nate Dyer and Sam Sikon in the hammer finals and both came away with impressive placements. Dyer finished second overall with a throw of 193'-07" (59.01m), which earned him All-MVC in the event for the second-straight year. Sikon came into his fifth and final throw in position to place near the bottom of the finals, but he saved his best for last. The sophomore's final throw of 180'-7" (55.05m) moved him up to fifth place, meaning that three Salukis had finished in the top-five.
The trio of Saluki hammer throwers compiled 22 points in total.
"The men's hammer was interesting," Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Rosalind Joseph said. "The projected order reversed, but it was nice to still get 22 points on the board, as well as a surprise move up in Sikon."
On the women's side, Madison Meyer ran and jumped to three heptathlon victories. The Carterville, Ill. native opened the heptathlon with a dominating win in the 100-meter hurdles, timed at 14.33. She then went on to claim first in the high jump with a height of 5'-04.50" (1.64m). After faulting in her first two attempts with the eventual winning height, she managed to clear the pole and break away from the three-way tie at second place. Meyer's last heptathlon win of day one came in the 200-meter dash, where she sprinted a personal-best time of 24.90.
Through four events, Meyer leads the heptathlon with 3,187 points. The final three events (long jump, javelin, 800m) will be Saturday morning.
Meyer went on to earn key points for Southern by placing fifth in the javelin (132'-07" // 40.41m) as well. Right behind Meyer in the javelin was Emma Sexton who took sixth with a distance of 131'-05" (40.06m).
"With the three wins, Madison Meyer is off to a great weekend," Joseph said.
In sprints action, Bri'Anna Branch, Tredaja Harris and Tyjuana Eason each qualified for the finals in the 200-meter dash. Branch, the Valley's top 200m sprinter, led the pack with a preliminary-best time of 23.57. Harris and Eason went five-six with times of 24.45 and 24.48. For Harris, it was the second time in three weeks that the freshman has ran a PR. Genesis Ewell ran 24.90 in the 200m, which was just .06 shy of a finals bid.
Another Saluki freshman that earned a finals bid was Trevor Thompson in the javelin. He went on to finish ninth, but threw a PR toss of 160'-03" (48.85m).
"It was exciting to see two freshmen make an MVC final, with Tredaja Harris in the 200m and Trevor Thompson in the javelin," Joseph said.
In distance action, Josh Maier placed fourth in the 1500-meter prelims with a time of 4:00.20. He is set to compete in the event finals on Sunday, where he will look to earn his first All-MVC 1500m honor.
A pair of sophomores in Shauniece O'Neal and Kyle Zeinemann also scored for SIU on day one. O'Neal claimed sixth in the hammer with a toss of 181'-05" (55.31m), while Zeinemann took eighth in pole vault with a height of 15'-01.75" (4.62m).
SIU is back in action tomorrow for day two at the MVC Championships, which will feature 10 finals events. Day two will start at 10:30 a.m. with the women's heptathlon.
For the latest updates on the Salukis at the MVC Championships, follow the team on Twitter (@SIUTrackXC), Instagram (@SIUTrackXC) and Facebook (@SalukiTrackAndField).
Players Mentioned
