As the seasons go from a bitter cold winter and directly into a steamy southern Illinois spring, the SIU track and field team will make a similar change, jumping straight from a successful indoor season to what they hope is an even better outdoor one. 

“My excitement is just like, indoor is over, we’re getting outside and it’s time to really show and prove what we’re supposed to be doing,” director of track and field and cross country Richard Jones said. 

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And while the Salukis will be running, jumping and throwing their way towards a conference title, with a chance to earn it in Carbondale as SIU hosts the Missouri Valley Conference Championships for the second consecutive year, it’s not without facing stiff competition. 

“The Missouri Valley Conference has gotten that much better over the last two years in particular,” Jones said. “That kind of lit a fire under, so to me, it’s just the mere fact of ‘let’s get back outside, let’s get back to our roots. Let’s get back to some really good coaching and competition.”

“I can’t necessarily say we’re going to win it all, but that’s always the goal,” Jones said. 

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If the Dawgs are going to win it all, it will come off the strength of some top-tier athletes, including freshman Andre Jackson, who is coming off an MVC Indoor title in the 400 meter dash and the Men’s Indoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year.

Jackson recognized the significance of his explosion onto the collegiate track and field scene, but wasn’t willing to dwell on it. 

“I think it’s big, but it’s just the first step. I feel like I had to get out with something nice to get to the next part where I want to be at,” Jackson said. 

Another trio of freshmen are being counted on by Jones to show up on the outdoor stage after strong starts to their careers indoors. 

“Layla Watson, I would look to see something from her. Nadir Langston, he was a finalist in the indoor 60 meter hurdles, so I would like to see him do a little bit better outdoors,” Jones said. “Dominic Martin is another freshman, he did the multi events indoor, so I would hope to see something from him outdoors.”

Despite the fast starts, that doesn’t mean that older athletes and distance runners are being forgotten either. 

“Distance runners, I would like to see them do fairly well.  Brianna Nieset and Hannah Meiser in particular are athletes who continue to get better, Will Fultz and Weston Jokerst in the 1500 outdoor as well,” Jones said. 

These top-level athletes are going to be counted on by Jones and his staff to find their way into the finals in their respective events. But, it will take more than just outstanding performances by these athletes to capture a title. It takes, at minimum, multiple athletes in the top eight of each event, meaning there will need to be some big contributions from lesser-known athletes.

“Just kind of training them up to be those kind of bench players like in basketball that come off the bench and score some big points for us,” Jones said. “That’s kind of going to be my goal, getting out of those other athletes… the ones that most people may not be paying attention to, to try to get them to make finals. And I think we have a good shot at doing that.”

Senior sprinter Teanna Bell sees the potential of the team as a whole, citing the eye-popping performances that are happening earlier in the year than normal.

“I think we’re capable of doing amazing things if we keep doing what we’re doing. We’re hitting marks that we weren’t hitting last year around this time, so I think we have a good chance at doing that,” Bell said. 

Jones, who primarily coaches sprints and jumps, admits that while he is biased towards calling those events a strength, hasn’t forgotten about his throwers either. 

“We have some different events that transition outdoors, some of the longer throws like the discus, the javelin, the hammer throw, we would expect to see a little bit of improvement in those events that you don’t see in indoor,” Jones said.

The improvements up and down the roster will be key to keeping the MVC trophies in Carbondale at the end of the season.

“We’re excited. It’s home, that means we get to finish at home. I got graduation here and then turn around and I got conference here. I just get to finish strong and give it everything I got,” Bell said.

Jones knows that the Salukis up and down the roster are ready to defend their home track as Jackson said.

“We do have a really strong team. Sometimes it isn’t always reflected in the team scores… but individually, we have some really strong athletes,” Jones said. 

“We want to kind of lean towards our athletes to really highlight them in their accomplishments. And I do believe we have a good group of men and women that are doing that and representing SIU at a high level,” Jones said.

Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook.

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