Salukis wrap up competition at NCAA Outdoor Championships

Wednesday, June 5

Austin, TX

Southern Illinois University

NCAA Outdoor Championships

06/07/2019 | 1:15:00 | Track and Field

Shauniece O'Neal (hammer throw) and Bri'Anna Branch (200m dash) both took home All-America Second Team honors while the women's 4x100 relay team of Tredaja Harris, Tyjuana Eason, Genesis Ewell and Branch earned All-America Honorable Mention recognition at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.

O'Neal put the finishing touches on a sensational sophomore campaign at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as she threw 211'-11" (64.59m) to earn All-America Second Team honors in the women's hammer throw. It marked just the second time in her career that she has thrown over 210' and it was good for fourth in her flight and 13th overall.

Branch ran 23.14 to finish 15th in the 200-meter dash. Running out of lane seven, Branch took sixth in her semifinal heat of the 200m Thursday night. The Chicago, Ill. native needed to run a sub-23 second 200 to advance to Saturday's final, as Texas's Teahna Daniels scooped up the eighth, and final, spot with a time of 22.65.

Branch, a first-time All-American, wrapped up an impressive senior campaign in which she became the first Saluki women's sprinter since 1986 to compete at the national meet and claimed the MVC's Most Outstanding Track Athlete honors after she won three titles and scored a total of 38 points at the outdoor conference meet. She also broke the school outdoor records in both the 100m and the 200m dashes, which included the fist sub-23 second 200m dash time in school history.

The Saluki women's 4x100 relay team made SIU's first appearance in a relay event at a national meet on either the men's or women's side since 1986, and Southern's first-ever in the quarter-mile relay. The quartet came in 19th Thursday with a time of 44.43.

All five Salukis who competed Thursday made their first appearances at a national championship meet. The women's 4x100 relay team broke the school record at the 2019 NCAA West Prelims two weeks ago with a time of 44.27 to place seventh and punch their collective ticket.