Track and Field Concludes Run at MVC Championships

Saturday, May 16

Terre Haute, IN

Southern Illinois University

Missouri Valley Conference Championships

05/17/2026 | 10:31:00 | Track and Field

Final Results Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Peter Borkowski

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships concluded on Sunday. Both Southern Illinois squads were able to collect some hardware, with the men's squad finishing fifth overall with 70 points while the women came in sixth with 61.

"The weekend was one of the toughest weekends we have seen in a long time," says Richard Jones, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country. "The MVC continues to produce great competition and I'm happy that we could represent well amongst some of the best teams. We had a few hiccups along the way and some adversity but also some really great performances. All in all I'm super proud of the team and what we accomplished this year. We have a few athletes that have qualified for nationals and so now the focus shifts to them."

How it Happened

Saturday
Track Events

Southern had its first finals qualifiers come out of the women's 400-meter dash, with Leah Thames (52.74) and Layla Watson (54.21) occupying the top two spots in prelims; Watson's time was also a new personal best. On the men's side of the 400-meter dash, Kwame Smith sat atop the preliminary times with his time of 46.60 while Donte Long and his personal best 47.19 came in third, earning both of them a spot in Sunday's finals.

Moving to the 100-meter dash, Courtney McDonald (12.08) and KeyAnn Wilson (12.12) were quick enough to move onto the women's finals. SIU's next finalists came from the men's 400-meter hurdles as Shane Ashton and Jalen Dickerson both posted a time of 51.14, a season best for Ashton, a personal best for Dickerson, and a top-75 time in Division I this season. Finally, Thames earned another finals berth after posting a top-50 Division I time of 22.94 in the 200-meter dash.

As for the one finals track event of the day, Hannah Meiser grabbed Southern a pair of points in the 10,000-meter event with her personal best time of 36:26.87.

Field Events
Quite a few Salukis snagged points in Saturday's field events.

In the women's hammer throw, Halaya Woodson set a personal best with her throw of 54.19 meters to earn a point. Then, in the men's hammer throw, Dallas Hodge scored four points with his 58.67-meter throw.

Another Saluki point came in the women's javelin throw with Jalynn Wood's throw of 36.62 meters. In the men's javelin throw, Jordan Smith secured fourth place and five points with his throw of 59.34 meters while Jadon M. Robertson scored a pair of points because of his 48.08-meter throw.

Combined Events
SIU's lone heptathlon representative, Kelsey Pacha started her weekend with a pair of seventh-place finishes in the 100-meter hurdles and high jump before taking first in the shot put with a throw of 11.05 meters. She closed out her Saturday slate by coming in eighth in the 200-meter dash.

Sunday
Track Events
Sunday started off with a bang for the Salukis, whose women's 4x100-meter relay team of Watson, Thames, McDonald, and Wilson posted a first-place time of 45.16 to grab SIU 10 points. The men's 4x100-meter relay followed, and Smith, Luke Leverett, Xavier L. Preston, and Jacob Morrison combined for a time of 40.35, good for third place and six points.

Moving to individual track events, Thames collected another gold medal and 10 points in the 400-meter dash after her run of 52.56. Watson came in fourth in the same event, earning Southern five points after her run of 54.72. SIU had another first- and fourth-place finish in the men's 400-meter dash, as Smith took home gold and 10 points after finishing in 46.17 seconds while Long set a personal best time of 47.15 to claim fourth and five points.

Wilson was able to scrap together three points for the Salukis in the 100-meter dash with her time of 11.78. SIU then received a huge points boost in the men's 400-meter hurdles thanks to Ashton and Dickerson going 1-2, posting times of 51.49 and 51.57 for a 15-point haul.

Thames stepped back up to the top of the podium in the 200-meter dash, running an all-conditions program record time of 22.69 for another 10 points. Smith then placed fifth on the men's side of the event (20.72) to snag five points. Southern's day on the track ended with the 4x400-meter relays. The women's team, consisting of Watson, Thames, Jamison Love, and Trinity Cleaver, grabbed six points and third place after their run of 3:42.63. And the men's team closed out the day with a gold medal. Long, Preston, Dickerson, and Smith ran the event in 3:07.93 to add a final 10 points to SIU's total.

Field Events
Southern's first point-scorer in Sunday's field events was Ella McDonnell, who jumped 1.65 meters in the high jump to grab a trio of points. Na'Kyrah Cooks then claimed a spot on the women's triple jump podium, taking second after her score of 12.32 meters, good for eight points. In the men's triple jump, both Darius Fuller (14.84 meters – three points) and Adrian Przestrzelski (14.32 meters – two points) finished in the points. Finally, Kyan Bell finished just inside the points range in discus, setting a personal best of 48.83 meters.

Combined Events
Pacha finished her heptathlon appearance on Sunday. She took third in the long jump (5.36 meters) before coming in eighth in the javelin throw (25.35 meters). She ended her run with a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter event (2:31.79). Overall, Pacha finished seventh in the heptathlon with 4,517 points. which earned SIU two points.

Up Next
Now, the Salukis turn their attention to the NCAA West Regional, which takes place May 27-30 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Follow the Salukis
For the latest updates on the Salukis, follow the team on Twitter (@SIUTrackXC), Instagram (@SIUTrackXC) and Facebook (@SalukiTrackAndField).