Several Salukis may have ended their careers with event wins, but the SIU track and field program did not add another conference title to its mantle with the Missouri Valley Outdoor Championship.

The Saluki women and men placed third and fourth overall respectively in the MVC outdoor championships Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Wichita, Kan.

Senior thrower Jeneva McCall earned Most Valuable Athlete and her third straight Most Outstanding Athlete honors as she led the field in total points. McCall placed first in the discus with a throw of 183-08, the shot put with a throw of 58-08.50 and the hammer throw with a 225-09.

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McCall has earned six indoor and nine outdoor MVC titles during her career at SIU.

Senior jumper Malaikah Love set an SIU record in the triple jump with a 43-03.25 leap, a mark that won her the title in the event. Love placed second in the long jump with a distance of 20-02.5 and sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.23.

Love said she was thankful to be able to set the triple jump record in her final MVC competition.

Sophomore Kenya Culmer added an event win in the high jump with a clearance of 5-11.25.

Other top performers on the women’s side were junior Kim Fortney and freshman Deanna Price who placed third and fourth in the hammer throw with 194-10 and 194-09 throws respectively. Senior Mallory Dreyer placed third in the javelin throw 129-05 throw. Freshman Lacey Gibson placed third in the 1000-meter run with a time of 36:20.96 and freshman Mobola Rotibi placed third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.00.

Overall the Saluki women finished with 135.5 points, 57 points behind first-place Wichita State University.

The Saluki men added three event wins during the championships. Senior Cody Doerflein won the pole vault with a 17-06.5 clearance, which set a new career best for his second career title. Sophomore Doug Palacious also set a career best with his triple jump of 51-09 to claim the title.  Senior Zach Dahleen won the 1,500-meter 3:49.46 for his second career title.

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Other top performers on the men’s side were senior Neal Anderson who placed third in the 1000-meter run with a time of 31:33.01 and second in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:39.6. Junior Lucas Cherry placed third in the steeplechase with a 9:06.94 time.

The men finished with 127.50 total points, 60 points behind MVC champion Indiana State University.

The Salukis will send 13 athletes to the west regional of the NCAA Championships, which start May 24-26 in Austin, Tex.