The Webster University women's and men's track and field teams placed well in the first-ever St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference invitational, placing second and third, respectively.  The event was held at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL, on April 24.  SIU hosted a larger event, featuring NCAA I schools as well, and all SLIAC schools participated and were scored separately from the other competition.

LaKecia Veal (SO, Crossroads Prep, STL) singlehandedly scored 28 points as the lone dual winner on the women’s side with winning times of 13.82 seconds in the 100 meter(M) dash and 28.76 seconds in the 200M dash. She also finished second in the triple jump at 33-9.5.  The women's second place finish was even more impressive with the team limited to four competing athletes for the meet.

Dan Henkey (FR, Affton HS, STL) and Aaron Oberneufemann (FR, Mt. Olive HS, IL) led the way for the men.  Oberneufemann had a personal record (PR) in the 400M and was involved in 24 team points in the 200M, 400M, long jump, and 4X400 relay.  Henkey had a personal record (PR) for the fifth straight meet in the 1500M run.

The meet was held despite severe weather conditions, including tornado warnings, that delayed events for two and a half hours, and left conditions poor. The wet conditions made jumps and throws especially hard because of poor footing and the inability to grip.  The men's team was in fifth place at the time of the delay, and the women still had numerous event left.  The Gorloks finished well despite the handicaps. 

" I was very happy with the way we competed today," Head Coach Dusty Lopez remarked after the meet. "There was plenty of adversity, a big meet, miserable weather all day, and the pressure of the first conference invitational. We had some stumbles, but those were all due to things we couldn’t control, like wet conditions that really hampered the throws and jumps.  Even so we managed to stay focused and be effective. When the weather broke, we just adjusted, got back on the track, and did what we had to do. 

Our athletes were well prepared in terms of knowing how important this meet was for us, so that helped quite a bit. We outperformed our seedings in a lot of events and when it’s all said and done, to bring home second and third-place team finishes with a smaller group of athletes is a great feeling.   When you don’t have a huge roster, you really need everyone to step up and that’s what we got. We are all very proud of what we were able to do and we look forward to more improvement over time."

This marked the first of at least three years the SLIAC will sponsor a Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Invitational, which will be used to evaluate the viability of adding track and field as a Championship sport. 

This year, teams and student-athletes competed for the distinction of SLIAC Track and Field Invitational Champion and individual event honors. Beginning in 2011, the SLIAC will award a Track Performer of the Week and Field Performer of the Week for both men and women.  They will be eligible for the SLIAC Spring All-Academic Team, and track and field will have a permanent presence on the SLIAC web site.