The Southern Illinois Salukis men’s track and field team recorded multiple personal bests and several event titles on April 19 during a split-meet weekend in Indiana and Florida.
The results matter as the team prepares for the upcoming Missouri Valley Conference Championship, building momentum with strong individual and relay performances. The program competes at the NCAA Division I level as part of the Missouri Valley Conference, according to the official website.
At the Bob Gibson Invitational, Malik Allen secured first place in the triple jump with a mark of 15.51 meters. Layla Watson won both the women’s 200 meters (24.94) and 400 meters (54.43), while Calen George took first in the men’s 5000 meters with a time of 14:54. Other notable personal bests came from Jamison Love in the women’s 400-meter hurdles (1:04.53), Ben Chance in the men’s 5000 meters (14:59), Riley Linville (4:51) and Allyson Niedfeldt (5:00) in the women’s 1500 meters, Halaya Woodson in hammer throw (53.93m), Jordan Smith in javelin (60.54m), Will Foltz in steeplechase (9:47), Mali Thornton in discus (40.49m), and Kayleigh Hoskins in pole vault (3.44m). Darius Fuller finished second behind Allen in triple jump with a mark of 14.90 meters.
Meanwhile, at Florida’s Tom Jones Memorial meet, Kwame Smith achieved a personal best of 46.09 seconds to finish third overall in the men’s 400 meters—placing him among SIU’s top five all-time performers for that event—and Jalen Dickerson placed ninth overall with his own top-ten school performance of 51.88 seconds for the men’s 400-meter hurdles.
Triniti Douglas delivered a season-best time of 13.98 seconds for fifth place overall in women’s sprint hurdles; Leah Thames posted her season-best time of 53.24 seconds to rank among SIU’s top five all-time performers; while SIU’s men’s relay team ran its fastest season time at three minutes six seconds to finish ninth overall—also placing them within school history’s top five marks.
Director of Track and Field Richard Jones said his team is focused on preparing for championship competition soon ahead by saying, “We are positioning ourselves to be in championship mode and this weekend was a good example for us. We had some good performances, some PRs some top ten performances in school history. All-in-all a good weekend at both venues.” The Southern Illinois Salukis Men’s Track & Field program operates from Carbondale, Illinois according to their official website.
Looking ahead, Jones confirmed that “the Dawgs will compete at Jim Green Invitational Friday May first.” The program utilizes Lew Hartzog Track & Field Complex as its primary venue according to their official website.
