April 5, 2010

RedStorm face stiff competition at Oliver Nikoloff Invitational

Cincinnati, OH --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men's and women's track and field teams faced a very tough field of competitors on Saturday at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational hosted by the University of Cincinnati. The women finished 15^th (out of 15 teams), scoring three points and the men's team was 16^th (out of 16) with three points.

Rio Grande junior Cassie Mattia (West Chester, OH) scored in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.15, which was a season-best time for her in the event. Sophomore Kayla Graves (Chillicothe, OH) scored in the 400-meter dash with an eighth place finish. She registered a time of 1:01.45. Graves also finished in 23^rd place in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 27.20.

Freshman thrower Kim Strunk (Milford, OH) finished 12^th in the shot put (11.94m) and 15^th in the discus (36.79m). Both were season-best performances. 

Sophomore Molly Roark (South Webster, OH) was 16^th in the 400 with a time of 1:04.97.

Sophomore Tracie Brown (Logan, OH) was 20^th (31.21m) in the discus and 21^st in the shot put with a best toss of 10.39m, which was a personal best. She finished 25^th in the hammer throw (36.95m). 

Other RedStorm women's results: freshman Hayley McSurley (Plumwood, OH), 33^rd in the 100-meter dash (13.47)and junior Hillary Haines (McConnellsville, OH), 39^th in the 800-meter run (2:55.78). 

Sophomore Danielle Stockham (London, OH) set a personal best time in the 5-kilometer race-walk at 32:45.01. 

"The competition was tough. It was a windy day, which had some effect. We had some good performances, seven PR's (personal records) and Nick Wilson nearly qualified for nationals in the 5,000," said Rio Grande head coach Bob Willey. "There were definitely some positives from the meet."

"We want to continue working toward our goal of peaking for the (Mid-South) conference meet," Willey added. 

Rio Grande will compete at the Miami Open next weekend (April 10).