Nov. 16, 2004

By Shalae Schulte
www.siusalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University men's and women's track and field teams signed their first recruits for the 2005-06 school year following the combining of both programs under head coach Connie Price-Smith.

The Saluki men added Lance Hartley, a Taylorville, Ill. native and the number one high jumper in the state of Illinois, while the women added Terri Counts from Kansas City, Mo., who will help the SIU hurdlers.

Hartley, a senior at Taylorville High School, is a two-time all-conference performer. As a junior he was a state qualifier in long jump and high jump where he earned all-state accolades. The Springfield State Journal Register and the Decatur Herald News named him Male Track Athlete of the Year in 2004, while he was rated the number one high jumper in Illinois, and ranked third in the nation by the Dyestat Elite National rankings.

The Saluki coaching staff looks for Hartley to contribute as a freshman in several events, including the high jump and the long jump.

"This speaks volumes of the staff, and the type of program we're developing here," said Saluki assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Lawrence Johnson. "This is just the start of some of the things to come. Lance is the first recruit as a combined staff and he'll be one of the many to come."

Hartley chose SIU over Stanford, Oregon and Texas Tech, because of the coaching staff and the Southern Illinois community.

"When student-athletes choose to come to a program that doesn't have the same prestige as Stanford and some of the other schools, it's real exciting to know that they believe in the coaching staff that's here and the University," Price-Smith said. "It's exciting for a kid to realize what's available to him without having to look at the name of the school."

Counts, primarily a hurdler, finished third last summer in the 100-meter hurdles at the AAU Junior Olympics Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. The two-time all-state performer, and the conference, district, and sectional champion in the 100m hurdles in 2004 is picked to win the Missouri state track meet this spring. Next fall Counts will be a great addition to the Saluki hurdle team.

"We feel she can step right in and help us out," Johnson said. "She will fill the void we lost with Korto Dunbar."