SIU, just another number

The SIU men’s and women’s track and field squad are competing at the grossly competitive Sea It is Sea Ray Relays

The SIU men’s track and field squad is heading to the Sea Ray Relays this weekend, which boasts more than 1,500 competitors and 114 teams, just a few days after suspending four of its top runners for two meets and permanently releasing two-time All-American Jeff Young.

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Talk about bad timing.

“I don’t know really what is going on for this weekend,” sprinter Luke Stenberg said. “Kevin [Mills] and I were just talking about whether or not we are going to have a relay team.”

No matter who is going, SIU men’s head coach Cameron Wright promised that the intense competition will provide a great opportunity for them.

“This will be the most competition we have seen during the indoor and outdoor season,” Wright said. “With the players that are going, they will all get a lot of experience from this meet.”

Stenberg agrees that it will be a great opportunity, but says the recent week’s events are disheartening to everyone on the team. Now the team will just have to search for some positives to bring back from Knoxville, Tenn.

“We are probably going to try and get some training from this,” Stenberg said. “Running against competition never gets old, practices get old. But we are going to go out there and run our best.”

Women’s head coach Connie Price-Smith also noted the hefty amount of competition and said that there could be some people who have golden futures in the field of competitors.

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“[This is the] most competitive meet I have had my team go to since I’ve been coach here,” Price-Smith said. “I know there is like going to be like 120 schools. There will be a couple Olympians of the future and present Olympians will be there.”

Price-Smith said she could not name any present Olympic athletes who are going to be there off the top of her head, but said there should be some because the relays are open to post-college students.

But despite being part of such a large crowd, she doesn’t believe her runners will get lost in it.

“It is a relay meet and it is not an invitation meet, but you have to qualify,” Price-Smith said. “I am not at all surprised all these people qualified. We have a small roster but they are all quality.”

For the runners who are going there, this will also provide a launching pad for some of their futures.

“I am definitely looking at this to help my future,” Korto Dunbar said, who will be competing in the 4 by 800 meter relay and will run in the 60-meter hurdles. “This should be great exposure for me. I am really looking forward to the competition, because it should make me run faster.”

Dunbar said she hopes to reach her season goal of 13.5 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, which she believes would put her among the 15 fastest hurdlers in NCAA women’s track.

Field events will kick off Friday at 9 a.m., and the meet starts back up Saturday night with the 4x400m relays.

The teams will be running at the famous Tom Black Track at the University of Tennessee, which is one of the more renowned track programs in the nation.

“It is a great meet. It has great tradition and is at a school with great track tradition,” Price-Smith said. “It has a really fun atmosphere. The stands are usually full and I competed there myself and I had a great time. It is really well-run meet.”

And Price-Smith knows no matter how they finish, they will provide a great effort collectively.

“It will tell me a lot, but I already know about them,” Price-Smith said. “They have heart and determination and this will just reconfirm that.”

Wright will be learning about his team’s guts after this week’s unfortunate turn of events.

Reporter Zack Creglow can be reached at [email protected]