Jan. 17, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis track and field team will open up the 2008 season this weekend as they head to Carbondale, Ill. for the Saluki Booster. This is the Tigers second meet of the indoor season. The meet will be conducted over a span of two days from Friday, Jan. 18-19. The meet starts at 4 p.m. CT on Friday and 10 a.m. CT on Saturday.

The women's side will be rallying off an incredible start to the season from some of their veterans. Senior Susan King qualified for the NCAA Championships and the Olympic trials with a toss of 17.13 meters in the shot put recorded at the ASU Kick-Off Klassic. She is ranked No. 1 in the country in the shot. Pole vaulters Ashton Baldwin and Whitney Bolton broke their own school record by .10 meters, leaping to a height of 3.76 meters. Sivan Aballi has qualified for the NCAA Championships with a provisional mark of 15.82 meters in the shot put. Aballi holds the No. 6 spot in the national rankings.

The men's team has started the season off with solid performances by their returnees and newcomers. Stunning performances in the first meet by freshmen Jerome Leslie and Aaron Whetstone in the jumps and Frashod Barlow in the sprints point the Tigers in the right direction. The depth that Memphis has in the throws showed in their first meet. Glen Edwards and Knut Syversen top Conference USA in the shot put and weight throw. They will look to carry that momentum with them over the course of the season as they get closer to conference time.

The Tigers will be competing in the Saluki Booster for the third time in four years. They opened up the indoor season at the ASU Kick-Off Klassic in early December, where they returned home with 39 top ten finishes, including three first places. They also captured three school records and two national qualifying marks.