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Cedarville, OH --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm women's track and field squad earned a ninth place finish at the Cedarville Collegiate Open on Saturday. The men finished 11th.
There were a total of 12 teams competing on the women's side while 15 teams made up the men's field.
The Rio women garnered 23 points.
Freshman thrower Kim Strunk (Milford, OH) had the top finish of the day for the RedStorm women, placing second in the shot put. Her best effort was measured at 38 feet, 9 ½ inches. Strunk scored eight points for Rio Grande with the runner-up finish. She just missed scoring in the discus, finishing a respectable 11th (102 feet, four inches).
Junior Cassie Mattia (West Chester, OH) claimed third place in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:08.36, which contributed six points to the RedStorm score.
Sophomore thrower Tracie Brown (Logan, OH) placed 7th overall in the discus with a top toss of 107 feet, six inches. She was 12th in the weight throw (120 feet, three inches).
Other RedStorm performers who scored at the meet were sophomore sprinter Kayla Graves (Chillicothe, OH) and freshman sprinter Hayley McSurley (Plumwood, OH). Graves finished 8th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:02.45 and McSurley was 8th in the 100-meter dash (13.34). Graves also collected a 12th place in the 200-meter dash (27.95).
Danielle Stockham (London, OH) finished 8th in the race walk with a time of 32:54.05, but was in fourth place among the scoring competitors due to some participants walking unattached.
"We had some positive performances and some negative performances," said Rio Grande head coach Bob Willey. "Most of the negatives though we can take something positive out of and build on that for future races."
"The conditions were not great," Willey added. "There were some strong teams in the field, it was a good challenge and I think we came away knowing that we have to have people step up and improve."
Rio Grande will get that opportunity, April 3 at the Oliver Nickoloff Invitational at Cincinnati.
