Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Track and Field	Women's SIUE Track and Field Men's SIUE Track and Field SIUE Athletics

April 25, 2005 Men's and Women's Track Ready For Cougar Twilight         The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's and women's track teams return home this weekend for the Cougar Twilight Open on Saturday at Ralph Korte Stadium.         SIUE placed fourth on both the men's and women's events at the Central Collegiate Championships held at Champaign over the weekend.         "The weather this weekend was terrible," said SIUE track coach Ben Beyers. "Everyone rallied and showed a lot of pride in putting out some good efforts. Obviously the times are slower than we'd like, but, under the conditions, I'm very proud of how the athletes performed."         On the women's side Christine Butler (Matteson) won the triple jump and became the season leader with a mark of 37'8.75" (11.50m). Butler also finished fourth in the long jump.         "She had some real nice jumps, especially considering the conditions," said Beyers. "She's been a top performer for us all year long, and she's starting to round back into the form that made her an All-American indoors."         On the men's side, Jonathan Bannister (Plano, Texas) won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.80.         "Jonathan ran a great race," said Beyers. "He blocked it all out and focused on himself, and when you are able to do that, good things will come, no matter what the weather is like."         The men's 4x400 meter relay team placed first with a mark of 3:19.31. Brad Blevins (Gillespie) became the season leader in the 100 meters finishing with a time of 11.05.         The Cougar Twilight Open will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday.         -siue cougars-