Women win Saluki classic at S. Illinois
The women’s track and field team is champion of the Saluki Spring Classic for the fourth consecutive year.
The Chippewas dominated the meet that took place on the campus of Southern Illinois on Saturday, with a 172-115 advantage over second-place Kansas.
“I didn’t expect to win by that many points. It shows that our team had better athletes and better depth,” said Head Coach Kathleen Raske.
It was the first outdoor meet of the season for the indoor MAC champions.
CMU won five events and was led by junior sprinter Kia Johnson, who won the 100 and 200-meter races. She also was a part of the first-place 400m relay team, which finished at 46.5 seconds.
“Kia was by far the most talented sprinter there,” Raske said. “The relay team also did well with little practice. They have only been practicing exchanges for two days outside.”
Senior Kari Karhoff took first place in the 400-meter race with a time of 1:01.53.
Indoor high jump national qualifier Maria Derezinski won the long-jump competition. She did not get to compete in the heptathlon because the meet did not host the event.
Senior thrower Melissa Brousseau started her season by placing second in the shot put and fourth in the discus competition. Brousseau did not compete in the indoor season because her eligibility had expired. She was redshirted in outdoor competition last season, and has one season remaining.
Raske was especially happy about the win, because she is an alumna of Southern Illinois.
“I’m very proud of my team that I bring there every year. And winning (at So. Illinois) is a little bit more special than winning somewhere else.”
CMU will compete in the Purdue Open on Friday.
