Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Laura Lengyel/Alestle SIUE sophomore Deserea Brown, left, and senior Valerie Simmons cross the finish line in the 100-meter hurdles during the Cougar Classic Saturday at Korte Stadium.

The SIUE men's and women's track and field teams came home for the first time this season to gusty conditions as they hosted the Cougar Classic Saturday at Korte Stadium.

"I thought the meet went really well. It felt good to be home," SIUE Assistant Coach Ben Beyers said. "The weather was definitely a factor. We're a tough team. We try not to make any excuses about anything. But at the same time you have to be aware that when it's as cold as it was, you don't want to risk an injury. What you've got to understand is that the performances may suffer a little bit. What you don't want to see is the efforts suffer."

The windy weather did not slow down SIUE senior javelin thrower Alicia DeShasier. DeShasier, competing in only her second track meet, broke her own school record - which she set at the Missouri Relays in March - with a toss of 164 feet, nine inches.

"I was very happy to see Alicia follow up her first performance with her second performance being another big one," SIUE Head Coach David Astrauskas said. "If we can keep improving each week, we'll have accomplished a lot this year. So that's our goal."

Beyers credited Astrauskas with discovering DeShasier, a former standout on the SIUE softball team.

"Coach Astrauskas has really worked with her tremendously," Beyers said. "I think he's done a phenomenal job of picking her out and seeing some talent out when she was still pretty raw."

Senior Callie Glover unleashed a 161 foot, 5 inch pitch in the hammer throw to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in May. Glover also won the discus throw and the shot put with throws of 141-06 and 40-05, respectively.

SIUE sophomore Angel Royston just missed the provisional qualifying mark in the 400-meter dash, breaking the tape at 56.93 seconds. Senior Tairisha Sawyer came in on her heels for second at 58.22 seconds.

On the men's side, sophomore Scott Block launched a 169 foot, 9 inch hurl in the discus throw to provisionally qualify.

"Scott has been a welcome addition to the team this year," Beyers said. "We knew that he would be an immediate contributor and to this point, he definitely has been."

Block also qualified in the shot put with a toss of 52-11.5 feet to take first place.

Junior Kyle Rose won at 100 meters and 200 meters. Freshman Nicholas Harold took first at 400 meters and seniors Cody Ellermeyer and Jonathan Bannister topped the field in the 800-meter run.

Next up for the Cougars is the Illinois Invitational Saturday in Champaign.

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