Complete Results

CHARLESTON, Ill. – SIUE men's track and field ended day one of competition at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships in first place.

The team finished with a total of 53 points, three points ahead of second-place Southeast Missouri.

The women's team ended the day in eighth place with 16.5 points.

"There's still a lot of competition left, but we are ahead of where we are supposed to be on paper for both the men and the women," said Head Coach Eileen McAllister.

Both teams saw contributions from several athletes, including OVC titles claimed by Julian Harvey and La'Derrick Ward.

Julian Harvey tied the oldest record at SIUE in the high jump. The record, set by Kevin Dooley in 1976, is 6 feet, 11.75 inches and is now shared by Harvey. Harvey also placed third in the long jump with a mark of 23-10 (7.26m).

Ward claimed his first indoor conference title in the long jump, setting a mark of 24-10.5 (7.58m).

Another SIUE record was brought down as Darius Smith broke his own record in the 60-meter dash. His time of 6.83 seconds qualified him for the finals tomorrow. Smith also qualified for the finals in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.09.

A notable performance by Keith Meyer concluded day one on a high note for the Cougars, as Meyer pulled off an upset to secure second place in the 5k race with a time of 15:06.06.

Greg Block contributed points in the weight throw, placing second with a throw of 60-10 (18.54m).

Travis Kidd tied his personal best, finishing in fourth place in the high jump with a mark of 6-8 (2.03m).

The men's distance medley relay added excitement to the day with their third place finish. Clint Kliem, Justin Agustin, Jessy Glaub and Ben Scamihorn finished the race in 10:23.91.

Both Braxton Klavins and Ahmad Evans qualified for the day two finals in the 400-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Klavins ran the 400 in 50.45 and the 200 in 22.58. Evans ran the 400 in 50.04 and the 200 in 21.86.

Bobby Kaluza set a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles. He qualified for the finals on day two with a time of 8.47.

Setting a new personal best in the weight throw was Alec Dutton with a throw of 47-10 (14.58m).

Dalton Oakes also set a new personal best in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.91.

"The team did a fantastic job of competing and supporting one another," said McAllister. "We've made tremendous progress from two years ago at our first OVC championship and even last year."

The women's team saw many athletes moving on to finals in day two, including LaDonna Caston in three events. She won her 60-meter hurdles heat with a time of 8.49. She also set a new personal best in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.61. Caston will also be competing in the finals of the 200-meter dash, finishing the prelims with a time of 25.57.

Brittany Thomas will be competing in the finals in day two in two events, the 200-meter dash and the 60-meter dash. She ran the 200 in 25.37 and the 60 in 7.67 in preliminaries.

Scoring points for the women in day one were Jasmine Johnson and Deborrah Blackburn in the high jump, Elizabeth Hampl in the weight throw, and Sakinah Abdul-Aziz in the long jump.

Johnson finished third while Blackburn finished sixth. Both were able to clear the bar at 5-4.25 (1.63m).

Hampl finished fifth in the weight throw with a mark of 56-8.5 (17.28m).

Abdul-Aziz and Gibbs were ranked outside of the top 10 coming into the meet but jumped personal bests to catapult them into finals. Abdul-Aziz finished fifth with 18-5.25 (5.62m). Brittney Gibbs just missed scoring, finishing in 9th with 18-0.5 (5.50m). Abdul-Aziz was ranked 11th and Gibbs was ranked 14th coming into the meet.

Setting personal bests today also were Ivory Cassell in the 60-meter dash (7.85) and Jess Clarke in the 5,000 meters (18:44.12).

"The majority of the meet is remaining," said McAllister. "We still have a lot to accomplish but today was an excellent start."

Day two of the OVC Indoor Championships starts tomorrow with the heptathlon event beginning at 9 a.m. followed by the men's shot put and men's triple jump beginning at 11 a.m. The event is live-streamed by the OVC Digital Network. Live stats are available here.