Men’s and Women’s Track Recap 21

The SIUC men’s track and field team was bitten by the injury bug in a big way over the weekend, which only added to the disappointment of a last-place finish at the Illinois State University Early Bird Classic.

The Saluki women suffered disappointment as well, as the team finished third out of three teams as well.

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The SIUC men lost its top high-jumper Neophytos Kalogerou for the season when the Cyprus native tore his Achilles tendon during a jump-off for first place against teammate Loren King. King finished first, while Kalogerou placed second. Both jumpers scored a jump of 6-10 to reach the tie-breaker.

The Salukis finished the meet with 44 points, trailing behind first place Illinois State, who had 62 points, and Indiana State University who finished with 56.

Men’s coach Bill Cornell said the loss of Kalogerou will change the outlook for the season for some of his athletes.

We have a big-point man gone already, Cornell said. That’s 10 points we lose every meet (for a first-place finish). We’ll have to have some of our younger jumpers step up and come through for us.

In the field events of the competition, long jumper Brad Bowers placed first for the Salukis with a jump of 22 feet and 10 inches. Sam Rone earned first in the triple jump with a leap of 48′ 4-1/2, while Bowers placed third (47′ 7-1/4).

Ryan Lovelace placed second in the pole vault (14′ 5-1/4), and Mike Sandusky placed third in the shot put (48′ 8-1/4) to round out a solid effort in the field events.

Cornell said the field events were a bright spot in the Salukis third-place finish.

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We did well in the field events, but we need help in the track events, Cornell said. They’ve just got to get their heads together.

In the track events, the Salukis received a solid effort from Peter Forder in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 22.94 seconds, and Rone in the 55-meter dash (6.56).

Joseph Parks finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run (8:50.68), and Matt McClelland placed fourth in the mile with a personal record (4:18.59).

Cornell said the team has some areas where it needs to improve on over Christmas break.

It’s very obvious we’ve got to get some work done, Cornell said. I was pleasantly surprised with some of our athletes, but we’ve got to get Jeraldo Henry and Orlando McKee ready right after Christmas break.

Henry and McKee missed the indoor season opener because the two are recovering from the Saluki football season.

The SIUC women’s track and field squad went to the meet with hopes of gelling as a team, but the Salukis finished in a disappointing third place that only featured three individual Saluki winners.

Women’s coach Don DeNoon said it was a frustrating meet for him and his team.

We weren’t there as a team, DeNoon said. It could be that we don’t have a lot of depth because the numbers are there. It just made for a long day.

Some of the bright spots on the women’s side were Felicia Hill’s first-place finish in the high jump (5′ 8) and third-place finish in the triple jump (38′ 9-1/2), Kelly French’s victory in the 3,000-meter run (10:24.82) and Leah Steele’s triumph in the pole vault (9′ 0).

Felicia Hill looked real good, DeNoon said. She looked like she intimidated a field of really good high jumpers. She made three fairly decent attempts at qualifying for nationals (5′ 9-1/2). It will be only a matter of time before she sets the school record (5′ 8-1/2).

Other top performances for the Salukis were Finda Fallah’s second-place finish in the long jump (17′ 7-3/4) and Raina Larsen’s third-place finish in the mile (5:12.47). Leah Nolden placed third in the 800 (2:24.95), and Yolanda Mask’s third-place finish in the 55-meter dash (7.32) rounded out the Salukis’ effort.

Mask, a freshman from Wheeling, said the meet was a good learning experience.

I thought we did well since it was our first meet, Mask said. It was a good start for us.

The Saluki women finished with 29 points, trailing Indiana State, which finished with 68 points for first place, and Illinois State, which compiled 65 points.

DeNoon said SIUC has to work on many aspects of its performance before its next meet Jan. 17.

We have a long way to go, DeNoon said. We’re not anywhere close to where we need to be. It could either be a long season, or we’ll end up making big improvements.

The men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete Jan. 17 against the University of Kansas in Carbondale.