Carbondale Reporter

Southern Illinois University's track and field team participated in the Indiana Invitational at Gladstein Fieldhouse, concluding the first day of competition. Richard Jones, Director of Track and Field, shared his perspective on the event's progress.

"The first day was a good start to the season, we had some athletes advance to the finals on day two as well set great early season PRs," Jones said. "The game plan is to compete on day two and set up the rest of the season."

Dallas Hodge achieved notable results in the weight throw event by securing second place. Three out of his six attempts surpassed 18 meters, with his personal best reaching 18.21 meters (59-09.00 feet).

In women's events, Triniti Douglas (8.82) and Trinity Cleaver (8.95) led in the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries, outperforming their competitors by .47 seconds. They aim to maintain their lead in Saturday's final race.

During the women's 60-meter dash preliminaries, Keyann Wilson (7.78), Trinity Cleaver (7.79), and Teanna Bell (7.83) advanced to Saturday's final.

For men's events, Christian Donatelli (6.93) and Xavier Preston (6.96) qualified for Saturday's final race in the 60-meter dash.

Day two is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., with full results from day one available online.

Several athletes achieved personal bests: Halaya Woodson reached 16.76 meters (55-00.00 feet), Dallas Hodge attained 18.21 meters (59-09.00 feet), Patrick Dubose hit 13.55 meters (44-05.50 feet), and Evan Redpath recorded a distance of 13.44 meters (44-01.25).

For updates on Southern Illinois University's track and field team, follow them on Twitter (@SIUTrackXC), Instagram (@SIUTrackXC), and Facebook (@SalukiTrackAndField).