Jan. 23, 2007

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University junior thrower Brittany Riley was named Missouri Valley Conference Female Field Athlete-of-the-Week for the second time this season.

Riley, who hails from Flossmoor, Ill., had the third-longest throw in U.S. history in the opening day of the Saluki Booster last week. She won the weight throw with a school, MVC and SIU Rec Center record toss of 77-05.50.

Riley now ranks behind current record-holder Erin Gilreath (79-06) and Amber Campbell (78-08.50) on the U.S. Female all-time best list.

Her monumental throw also stands as the best in the nation this indoor season.

An NCAA automatic qualifier in the weight throw, Riley has won that event and broken her own facility record in each of SIU's indoor meets this year. This week marks the third time she has been named MVC Field-Athlete-of-the-Week in her Saluki career.

In other news . . .

The SIU women's track and field team is picked to finish the 2007 indoor season 23rd, trackwire.com published today.

The Top-25 poll includes team rankings and projected national meet scores for the Dawgs. In 2006, SIU finished 16th at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

After two meets this season, Southern has already had one automatic (Riley) and one provisional (Bianca Stuart, long jump) qualifier for the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Trackwire Top-25 Women's Rankings
2007 National Indoor Performance Lists