Feb. 4, 2005

Day 1 Results in PDF Format
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Carbondale, Ill. - University of Memphis jumper Janon Busby claimed his triple-jump title in three meets, as the senior outdistanced the field on the first day of the McDonald's Invitational, hosted by Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. Busby's 10 points for his victory also helped the Tigers to a second-place standing in their first scored meet of the season.

Busby, who already sat atop the Conference USA rankings in the triple jump, set a new season-best mark with his leap of 50-03.25" (15.32m), which was nearly two feet better than his closest competitor.

Three additional Tigers, J.D. Erickson, Cody Rushing and Jason Morgan also scored points on Friday, giving the U of M men at least one scorer in each of three events contested on day one of the meet. Erickson grabbed a fifth-place finish in the weight throw, with a toss of 58-03.25" (17.76m), recording four points for the team. Rushing and Morgan placed sixth and seventh in the pole vault with marks of 12-11.50" (3.95m) and 11-11.75" (3.65m), respectively, garnering the remaining five points.

Host SIU Carbondale leads the men's team standings with a total of 39 points.

On the women's side, thrower Gail Lee was once again the top performer for the Lady Tigers. The junior placed fourth in the weight throw with a mark of 57-07.00" (17.55m), tallying five points for the U of M. Also scoring for the women was Cassandra Harding, who took home fifth place and four points in the triple jump, with a season-best leap of 37-04.00" (11.38m).

The Lady Tigers' nine points leave them in fourth place behind SIU (31.5), Austin Peay State University (14) and Eastern Illinois University (10).

The U of M squads will look to continue their success on day two of the meet which will commence at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning with the women's pole vault. Competition will continue throughout the day, with running events scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. and the final event, the men's 4x400m relay, set for 5:30 p.m.

Results for all events will be available on the SIU website www.siusalukis.collegesports.com, following the completion of the meet, and will also be posted at www.gotigersgo.com.