A Look at SLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships
The 2023 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will hold its Indoor Track and Field Championships this Saturday in Elsah, Illinois on the campus of Principia College. This will be the fourth year the conference has sponsored an indoor championship. The meet begins at 10 a.m. with field events while running events are set to start at 1:30 p.m. For a complete list of the tentative schedule see below.
Greenville University will be looking to defend titles on both the men's and women's sides of the championships. The men's team has won each of the previous three championships.
The 60-meter dash will be a showdown between two Panthers with Carson Rantanen and CJ Anderson each recording the fastest time this season so far. Elijah Perez will be challenging in the event as well and is the favorite in the 200-meter dash. Greenville holds the top three times in the 400-meters while less than one second separates Kaelin Triggs (Webster), Kaleb Carlson (Greenville), and Nana Koranteng (Principia) in the 800-meters. Gianni Estrada will look to win his second gold in the mile although his teammate Kaleb Carlson is the defending champion. Webster's Armond Williams will look to defend his title in the 60-meter hurdles while the Greenville relay teams are the favorites in both the 4x400 and Distance Medley.
Moving onto the men's field events Dylan Webster will battle it out with Armond Williams in the high jump. Greenville's Wesley Kile has been the premier jumper in the conference and is aiming for his third consecutive gold in the pole vault, second straight in the long jump, and second straight in the triple jump. Nate Brown will look to take home his third gold in the shot put but must outthrow a pair of Fontbonne throwers in Mark Fisher and Tyree Simms. Brown is also the favorite in the weight throw with teammates Ben Schuette, Matthew Binion, and Blake Thebeau looking for medals.
On the women's side, Greenville has won two straight titles including a record-setting performance last year when they piled up 259 points. Already the most decorated performer in SLIAC Track and Field history, Greenville's Cayden Sharp will look to add to her collection of 14 career indoor medals. She has posted the best marks in each of the following events this season: 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, and triple jump. Fellow Greenville jumpers Laila Graham and Sara Yakana will be there to push Sharp.
Alexa Lofgren will shoot to garner medals for Fontbonne University, sitting in the top three of the conference this season in both the 200-meter dash and 400-meters. Eureka College has made some noise of late thanks to the continued emergence of Rachel Fisher and Karissa Heffernan. Fisher has posted the best time in the conference this season in the 800-meters and second best in the 400-meters while Heffernan is tops in the mile and 3000-meters. Webster's Vanessa Jones has put together several strong weeks and will look to defend her 60-meter hurdle gold.
Tawny Rodriguez, from Greenville, is the one to watch in the throwing events. Rodriguez swept the throwing events last year and has the best shot put mark this season. Her teammate Talahiva Talanoa holds the SLIAC best mark in the weight throw this year and could threaten the championship record.
