Miami Ohio University Athletics
Miami University
BGSU Women's Challenge
Women's Track and Field Takes Third at BGSU Challenge
1/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Jan. 16, 2010
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Despite over a month off from competition, the Miami University women's track and field team got off to a strong start in its first meet of 2010 and just second meet of the season, as the RedHawks won three events to finish in third place at the BGSU Women's Challenge Saturday at Perry Field House on the campus of Bowling Green. Miami last competed at the season-opening Findlay Oiler Opener Dec. 4-5, 2009.
The RedHawks racked up 115.5 points at the 10-team meet and was the second finisher among the six Mid-American Conference schools competing, as Central Michigan won the meet with 135.5 points. Dayton finished second overall, while MAC foes Toledo, host Bowling Green, Ball State and Ohio placed fourth through seventh, respectively.
"You could definitely tell it was our first meet in a long time, but we got the cobwebs out," head coach Kelly Phillips said. "For the other teams, it was their second meet of 2010, so you could tell they were just a little bit sharper. But it was definitely a good start and we came out healthy."
Miami won the 4x400-meter relay for the second time in as many tries this season, as sophomore Diona Graves (Fenton, Mo.), senior Nicki Mitchell (Lake Forest, Ill.), redshirt sophomore Tasha Profit (Chicago, Ill.) and sophomore Rachael Clay (Rossford, Ohio) combined to finish in 3:57.16, as all but Mitchell were on the winning relay team at the Oiler Opener, as well.
"Rachael Clay had a great 400 at the end of the relay," Phillips said. "We were way behind-a distant third - in the 4x400 going into the last leg and she just came up and rolled by everybody."
Senior Margarita Pogorelov (Bat Yam, Israel), who was the fourth member of the winning relay team at Findlay, won the 200-meter dash in 25.62 seconds, while taking second in the 60-meter dash in 7.74 seconds. Graves picked up an extra three points for the 'Hawks by crossing sixth in the 60-meter finals.
In the mile run, senior Amanda Mirochna (Naperville, Ill.) earned another victory for Miami, taking first in 4:57.01, while redshirt sophomore Rachel Patterson (Rochester, Mich.) placed third just a second and a half later.
Juniors Kelley Miller (Dublin, Ohio) and Katie Lenahan (Cincinnati, Ohio) combined to score 21 points for the RedHawks between the 800- and 600-meter runs. In the 800, Miller was the runner-up in 2:14.34, which is the seventh-best time in Miami history, while Lenahan was fifth in 2:16.75. In the 600, Miller was again second in 1:39.04, while Lenahan crossed in eighth.
"All the distance girls for the most part ran sprinting events," Phillips said, "but Kelley and Katie did a great job in the 800 and coming back 20 minutes later in the 600."
In the field events, sophomore Alexandra Roberts (Hilliard, Ohio) led the way with a second-place finish in the shot put with a heave of 44-6.75 (13.58m), which ranks her ninth on Miami's all-time performers list, while fellow sophomore Samantha Gable (Greenfield, Ind.) took sixth in the event. Gable also placed seventh in the weight throw with a career-best toss of 53-1.5 (16.19m).
Junior Magda Wikar (Winnetka, Ill.) finished third in the long jump with a leap of 17-11 (5.46m) while Mitchell took fifth in the event (17-8.75/5.40m). Other scorers in field events for Miami included senior Brittney Bernardoni (Batavia, Ill.) placing fifth in the pole vault (10-11.75/3.35m), senior Kristen Mathews (Griffith, Ind.) taking fourth in the high jump (5-1.25/1.56m) and junior Hope Alexander (Wilmington, Del.) finishing fifth in the triple jump (36-4.25/11.08m).
"It was a good start, but I think everybody knows we have a long way to go to being great," Phillips said. "Everybody's motivated and fired up to say the least."
The RedHawks will next be in action next Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23, at the Gladstein Invitational, hosted by Indiana University.
--MURedHawks.com--
Players Mentioned
