SIUC women’s track and field triple jumper/pole vaulter Danielle Jordan may not be the Air Jordan people think of when mentioning Chicago, but she is working on it.

Jordan, a junior from Chicago, certainly lived up to the legacy at the Cougar Classic this weekend in Edwardsville as she soared over the competition with a first-place finish in the triple jump with a jump of 33 feet and 11.25 inches and a second-place finish in the pole vault at a personal best height of 8-0.

Jordan led the women’s team that dominated the unscored Cougar Classic while a few members of the men’s and women’s team traveled to the highly competitive Sea Ray Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend.

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Jordan said the nice weather helped her out in her two-event performance.

Usually we have competed in bad weather, so it helped to compete in the nice weather this weekend, Jordan said.

Jordan thought the meet was solid preparation for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships (May 13-16 in Cedar Falls, Iowa).

It wasn’t very competitive, but it was a big confidence booster heading into conference, Jordan said. I think I can step up and help the team a lot at conference in both events. I want to get at least to 9-5 (pole vault) or above by the MVC’s.

Other top finishers for the women’s team include sophomore Leah Nolden with a first-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:16.31). Freshman Caryn Poliquin placed first in both the shot put (41 feet 1 inches) and the discus (135 feet 4 inches) and placed third in the javelin (99-6).

Junior Michelle Nitzsche placed first in the pole vault (9 feet 6 inches), while freshman Terita Walker finished second in both the 100-meter (13.09 seconds) and the 200-meter runs (27.05 seconds). Junior Kenisha Grant ran a season best (1:01.77) in the 400-meter dash, and sophomore Jenny Cain ran a season best (11:23.12) in the 3,000-meter run.

Top finishers at the Sea Ray Invitational were senior Raina Larsen with a 16th-place finish and season best time in the 1500-meter run of 4:36. Larsen’s time put her into the eighth spot in Saluki history in the event. Junior Felicia Hill placed 10th in the high jump (5 feet 5 inches) and 15th in the triple jump (11.36 meters).

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The men’s team was also competing in two different locations this weekend. At the Cougar Classic, the men’s team collected five first-place finishes and two second-place finishes, while the rest of the team faced solid competition at the Sea Ray Invitational.

First-place finishers at the Cougar Classic were sophomore Alexis Kallis in the 100-meter dash (11.32 seconds), freshman Chris Owen in the 1,500-meter run (4:04.56), sophomore Matt McClelland in the 5,000-meter run (15:37.35), freshman Brandon Dell’Aringa in the 110-meter hurdles (15.14 seconds) and freshman Adam Schoonover in the high jump (6 feet 0 inches).

Top finishers at the Sea Ray Invitational were sophomore Brad Bowers in the triple jump with a fifth-place finish (47 feet 5.25 inches), senior Devyn Resmer with a fifth-place finish in the javelin (181 feet 7 inches), freshman Peter Forder with a 10th-place finish in the 200-meter dash (21.91 seconds), sophomore Mike Sandusky with a 12th-place finish in the hammer throw (157 feet 9 inches) and junior Joseph Parks with a 13th-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:14.46). Sophomore Eric Velleca finished second in the 400-meter dash (49.41 seconds).

Men’s coach Bill Cornell said Parks was on his way for a NCAA qualifying time (8:54) in the steeplechase but hit a barrier and went down, costing him several seconds.

Cornell is expecting another tough meet next weekend at the Tyson Invite in Fayetteville, Ark.

I understand there’s about 20 teams going down there this year, Cornell said. We hope to take the whole team down there so we can have about three athletes in each event.

The men’s and women’s track and field team will compete at the Tyson Invite in Fayetteville, Ark., next weekend.