Women finish first, men third in Bill Cornell spring classic

By Ryan Scott, Sports Reporter

March 20, 2021

SIU track and field hosted the Bill Cornell spring classic on Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20, to open their outdoor season. The Salukis men’s and women’s teams combined to win 13 events overall.

SIU competed against Eastern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Murray State, Austin Peay, Evansville, and Valparaiso.

On Friday, SIU won three of the four contests competitions, including men’s discus and men’s and women’s triple jump.

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Sophomore Trinity Daniels, senior Willie Rodgers and senior Ricky Hurley picked up those Friday victories for SIU, respectively.

Daniels jumped a distance of 11.87 meters in the women’s triple jump, followed by fellow Saluki sophomore Britney Mosby with a 11.57 meter distance.

Rodgers jumped 15 meters exactly, putting him 0.4 meters over the second place jump.

Senior Ricky Hurley won the men’s discus competition with a distance of 49.94 meters, defeating the second place distance by over two meters.

Southern Illinois was the winner of 10 of the 34 events on Saturday.

Sophomore Cole Taggart won the men’s shot put for SIU with a distance of 15.51 meters.

Hurley added another win on Saturday, this time in the hammer throw, with a distance of 65.23 meters. That was over seven meters better than the second-best distance in the event.

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In the javelin throw, the Salukis’ junior Emma Sexton won with a distance of 40.49 meters.

In the women’s shot put, indoor national finalist senior A’veun Moore Jones was victorious with a throw of 16.56 meters. SIU also took second in the event with a 14.56 meter throw from sophomore Bri’Yan Robinson.

The Salukis took the top four spots in the women’s hammer throw and were led by indoor national finalist Shauneice O’Neal ,who won the event by six meters.

Sophomore Kyle Lind picked up the win in the men’s 110 meter hurdle event with a time of 14.33 seconds.

SIU senior Savannah Long got a win in the women’s 400 meter hurdle event with a time of 1:02.26, nearly three seconds clear of the second place position.

The 200 meter dash was won by SIU in both the men’s and women’s races. Freshman Iaunia Pointer got a time of 24.19 to win the women’s event. Junior Corey Sherrod got a 21.85 to narrowly pick up the win in the men’s event.

The Final team results saw the SIU women’s team winning with Murray State in second place.

SIU finished third in the men’s competition behind Eastern Illinois and SEMO by just half a point for second.

Women’s final results

1) Southern Illinois – 202

2) Murray State – 168

3) Southeast Missouri State – 145

4) Eastern Illinois – 98

5) Austin Peay – 57

6) Evansville – 29

7) Valparaiso – 15

Men’s final results

1) Eastern Illinois – 270.50

2) Southeast Missouri State – 169.50

3) Southern Illinois – 169

4) Evansville – 63

5) Valparaiso – 52

6) Murray State – 2

The next meet for the Salukis will be Friday, March 26, and Saturday, March 27, in Oxford, Miss. at Ole Miss.

Sports reporter Ryan Scott can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @RyanscottDE.

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