Leah Thames broke her own school record and secured a spot at the NCAA Nationals during the Track and Field West Regionals held in Lafayette, Arkansas, according to a May 30 announcement from Southern Illinois University. Thames advanced after running a 51.54 in the 400-meter dash, placing sixth and moving on to the next round. She later ran a 51.63 in the quarterfinals to finish eighth and officially book her ticket to Eugene for Nationals.
Richard Jones, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, said, “The Salukis represented at the highest level at First Round and showed the nation who we are. We had a new school record by Leah Thames and she advances to the final round. The men’s 4×4 ran a time that would have advanced but was unfortunately disqualified. Dallas Hodge represented the throws program at a high level and we look forward to seeing them return next year bigger, better, and stronger.”
Other notable performances included Kwame Smith finishing with a time of 46.98 in the men’s 400-meter dash for 40th place, while Shane Ashton placed 24th in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.05—missing advancement by less than one second—and Jalen Dickerson came in at 37th with his run of 51.67 seconds.
Thames also competed in Thursday’s events by breaking her own school record again before advancing through both rounds of competition; however, she did not make it past quarterfinals in Saturday’s 200-meter event despite recording times under previous benchmarks.
Southern Illinois Salukis Men’s Track and Field competes as an NCAA Division I program within the Missouri Valley Conference from Carbondale, Illinois, utilizing Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex as its primary venue, according to the official website.
SIU will now prepare for Thames’ appearance at NCAA Nationals scheduled for June 10-13 in Eugene.
