March 21, 2010
Rio track begins outdoor season
Winston-Salem, NC --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men's and women's track and field teams began the 2010 outdoor season at the Wake Forest Open this weekend. This was a non-scoring meet.
Rio Grande was facing some high caliber competition at this meet from all levels of college athletics.
Red-shirt freshman Nick Wilson (Fleming, OH) was the top men's performer as he finished 11th in the 3,000-meter run. Wilson covered the distance in 8:49.79. He also ran 24th in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:03.50.
Sophomore distance man Zane Miller (Grove City, OH) finished 24th in the 10,000-meter run. Miller posted a time of 33:29.20.
Junior Justin Francisco (Belpre, OH) registered a time of 16.12 in the 110-meters hurdles, which was good enough for 37th place. Sophomore Lucas Murphy (Grove City, OH) ran 41st in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.84.
Other RedStorm men's results had junior Matt Spencer (Pickerington, OH) finishing 57th in the 1,500-meter run (4:09.97) and 61st in the 800 (1:59.14). Freshman Jay Butler (Cincinnati, OH) finished 73rd in the 200-meters with a time of 23.01 and senior David Croom (Heath, OH) was 87th in the 200 (23:29).
"Our young men and women ran well," said Rio Grande head coach Bob Willey. "I have no complaints. The competition was very tough and the track (surface) ran fast. The weather was ideal."
"We can take a lot of positives from this first meet," Willey added.
Rio Grande will compete next Saturday (March 27) at the Cedarville University Open.
