March 14, 2007

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill.-National champion, Brittany Riley of Southern Illinois University, added another honor to her remarkable list of accomplishments. Riley was named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division I Indoor All-America Team.

The top eight finishers in each event at last weekend's NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships are accorded All-America status.

In the individual (non-relay) events, if one ore more of the top eight finishers is of another nationality, eight U.S.-born collegians are selected in addition to any foreign-born All-Americans.

The junior from Flossmoor (Ill.) is the first SIU female to win an NCAA championship in track and field. Riley was also named both the Midwest Region and Division I Women's Field Athlete of the Year.

She dominated the 20-pound weight throw, twice topping the world best in the event. Riley threw 80-7½ at the Gladstein Invitational in February and shattered her world best in winning her specialty at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.

Riley was spectacular in winning the school's first women's national title and only the second Missouri Valley Conference women's indoor national title, joining Indiana State's Holly Hyche in 1993 and 1994. She is now part of an elite list of just six MVC athletes, men and women, to be crowned indoor national champion.

After fouling on her first attempt, Riley unleashed five-consecutive throws that would have established a world record before this season. Riley's series progressed: foul, 23.71, 23.92, 23.71, 25.05, 25.56 - defeating Georgia's Jenny Dahlgren by 3.03 meters and nearly 10 feet.

The mark will stand officially as an American record and will not count as a "world record" because weight throw records are not recognized by the IAAF.

Additionally, Riley was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" section this week.