February 22, 2010

Rio track competes at Kent State Tune Up

Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men's and women's track and field squads competed at the Kent State Tune Up on Saturday. This was a non-scoring meet but both the men's and women's teams produced some outstanding performances. 

For the RedStorm men, senior sprinter Chris Woodfork (Chillicothe, OH) finished 15^th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.94 and 16^th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.34. 

Sophomore Lucas Murphy (Grove City, OH) ran well in the 800-meter run, breaking 2 minutes for the first time in his career. He finished with a time of 1:59.70, which was good enough for 26^th place. He nearly broke the school record in the event that is currently held by teammate Matthew Spencer (Pickerington, OH) at 1:59.40. 

Speaking of Spencer, he placed 10^th in the 1,000-meter run (2:38.43). Spencer ran in the 3,000-meter race as well and finished 33^rd overall with a time of 9:10.10. Red-shirt freshman Nick Wilson (Fleming, OH) finished 27^th in the 3,000 and improved his time to 9:03.96. 

Other RedStorm men's results: freshman Jay Butler (Cincinnati, OH), 54^th in the 200-meter dash (23.38) and sophomore Zane Miller (Grove City, OH), 60^th in the 5,000-meter run (16:40.48).

"We ran very well, we almost had two school records go down and Cassie (Mattia) hit the "B" standard in the 800," said Rio Grande head coach Bob Willey. "It was a good meet for us."

"We had several runners get PR's (personal records) and had some improve on their times," Willey added. "We were very pleased with how our young men and young ladies performed." 

Rio Grande will now prepare for the NAIA Indoor National Meet, March 4-6 in Johnson City, TN. The RedStorm will have three competitors at the national meet. Senior racewalker Kyle Hively (Vinton, OH) will compete in the 3,000-meter race walk and Woodfork will run in the 200-meter event.

Mattia will compete in both the 600 and 800-meters at the Women's National Championships.