Track men, women fall to Redbirds in dual meet

By Akeem Glaspie

The SIU men’s and women’s track and field teams fell to conference rival Illinois State in a dual meet Friday and Saturday at Normal.

The Salukis competed in 19 events with both teams taking second. The women were eight points short of ISU’s 102 points with 94. The men also came up short of ISU’s 114.5 with 84.5 points.

Jumping coach Andre Scott said Wednesday the jumpers were at a part of their training when they were doing heavy lifts in the weight room and longer, more intense work on the track. The jumpers’ legs might be heavy during the weekend meet, he said.

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If the jumpers had heavy legs, they did not show it as they captured four wins during the meet.

Senior Malaikah Love led the Salukis with a win in the long jump with a distance of 18-99.60 feet and the triple jump with a distance of 40-02.62 feet.

Sophomore Kenya Culmer won the high jump with a height of 5-74.4 feet.

On the men’s side, sophomore Doug Palacious won the triple jump with a leap of 48-32.6 feet.

Throwing coach John Smith said his throwers were in top outdoor shape, and they have worked during practice to make the necessary progress with throws.

The Saluki throwers managed several top five finishes, and senior Jeneva McCall dominated throwing events for the Salukis.

McCall placed first in the hammer throw with a distance of 222-22.01, the shot put with 58-30.05 and the discus with a mark of 192-74.09.

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Freshman DeAnna Price came in third in the hammer throw with 191.27 feet followed by junior Kim Fortney in fourth place with a throw of 186.02 feet.

Freshman Curtis Wideman won the discus throw on the men’s side with a throw of 162-69.09, and senior Brad Foote placed second with a career-best throw of 155-41.03. Sophomore Brian Cooper placed highest for SIU in the shot put with a third place throw of  50.78 feet.

The Saluki distance runners claimed four wins in three events. Junior Zach Dahleen won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:56.15 followed by junior Lucas Cherry with at 4:06.18. Senior Stephen Arvanis won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:53.86. Senior Kyle Kirchner won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:45.76 followed closely by senior Neal Anderson with a time of 8:45.77.

For the women, freshman Sadie Darnell won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:11.91.

Freshman Amiris Warren won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12:03 for the Saluki sprinters, and senior Cody Doerflein took the title in the pole vault competition with a height of 17-06.03.

The Salukis return to the track Friday and Saturday to face Indiana State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Indiana State Triangular.

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