Jan. 29, 2011

Complete Results

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - For the second consecutive weekend, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville track and field teams traveled to the UI Armory for the Illinois Intercollegiate and came away with 15 personal bests.

"It was a great atmosphere from the beginning of the meet to the end," said SIUE Head Coach Kareem Jackson.

Freshmen Rickie Walls and Jamil Mashni continued their impressive indoor campaigns for the men.

Walls finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 43 feet, five inches. Mashni placed ninth in the shot put after a toss of 48-7.5. His throw was nearly a foot farther than his season-best from last Saturday.

Juniors Marc Presley and Marc Amarillas joined the group of Cougars turning in personal bests. Presley finished the 600-meter run in eighth with a time of 1 minute, 23.25 seconds while Amarillas placed sixth in the 3,000m with an 8:56.08.

Joshua Thomas (600m), Forrest Knight (60m hurdles), Aaron Werths (Mile and 3,000m), J.D. Wynn (Mile), and Campbell Walters (3,000m) all beat their previous best time in the event listed.

The SIUE women had a similar day as several freshmen showed improvements from a week ago.

Ciara Turner reached the finals of the 60m dash with a PR time of 7.86 and later turned in another PR in the 200m with a 26.14.

Sophomore Michelle Higgins earned a PR in the triple jump with a leap of 37-7.75 to finish fourth. She also placed fifth in the 60m hurdles reaching the finals in a time of 9.16.

Fellow sophomore Colleen McDonough had another strong showing, placing fifth in both the shot put (41-8.75) and the weight throw (50-0.75).

Debonie Lofton (400m), Elisha Crawley (600m), Lacey Hainline (600m), and Renee Goodenough (Mile) each recorded a new PR in the meet for the Cougars.

"This meet was a great opportunity for our kids to showcase their talents in front of schools that may or may not have recruited them," added Jackson. "They were not intimidated by the spotlight of a high-profile meet."

The Cougar men finished ahead of McKendree while the women bested both Bradley and McKendree in a battle of teams from the state of Illinois.

"I saw growth today, and that's something you can't take for granted," said Jackson. "Over the next two weeks we will need to continue to see that growth. I think the coaching staff is doing a great job of communicating the big picture of staying focused on the journey and process."

SIUE will be back on the track Feb. 4-5 at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Invitational.

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