2006 Track and Field - Goes To Division II Challenge

		Track and Field	Men's Track and Field Women's Track and Field SIUE Athletics

Ben Willard
Brown

Deserea Brown

April 10, 2006

SIUE Goes To Division II Challenge
        EDWARDSVILLE -- The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men’s and women’s track and field teams travel to Emporia, Kan. for the Division II Challenge at Emporia State.
        SIUE hosted the Cougar Classic last weekend at Korte Stadium.
        “It was good to be home,” said SIUE women’s track and field coach Ben Beyers. “After a long (indoor) season where we travel almost every weekend, it’s good to be here. We had some great teams here this year, and we were able to put out some decent efforts and learn more about our team.”
        On the women’s side, freshman Deserea Brown (Flossmoor) finished first at 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:03.01.
        “Dez had another good week in the hurdles,” said Beyers. “She’s learning something new every week now. While her time was not as good as it was last week, this was a pretty solid race.”
        Tairisha Sawyer (Chicago) placed third in the 200 meters with a mark of 24.70. Sawyer ran the same race in 24.79 at Southeast Missouri State the week before.
        “Tai lowered her time in the 200 this week,” said Beyers. “She ran a good race, but not a complete one. She’ll be able to pull everything together soon, and her time will be very good.”
        On the men’s side, Ben Willard (Manito) placed second in the discus with a toss of 161 feet, 10 inches (49.33) to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships.
        “Ben’s technique in the discus has been improving,” said SIUE men’s track and field coach Dave Astrauskas. “It was nice to see him hit a national qualifying mark. Ben has been throwing well in practice and it was nice to see him get a good throw in the meet.”
        Blake Marcum (Centralia) finished first at 800 meters with a time of 1:57.42.
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