Outdoor Season Gets Off to Strong Start at Blizzard Buster

Saturday, March 23

Oxford, Ohio

All Day

Miami University

Blizzard Buster

Outdoor Season Gets Off to Strong Start at Blizzard Buster

3/23/2019 7:12:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country

Final Results

The RedHawks dominate the track, winning 22 of 26 running events.

OXFORD, Ohio - The 2019 Miami Blizzard Buster lived up to its name Saturday as a warm, sunny day at the George Rider Track helped the Miami University track and field team kick off its 2019 outdoor campaign. The meet was dominated by the Red and White, as Miami claimed the win in 22 of 26 track events and 25 events total.

The day's festivities on the track got underway in the morning with the 5000m. On the women's side, Regan Smith shattered her previous PR by over 25 seconds as she ran a 17:33.66 to win the event. Alexa VanderHoff placed third in the 21-runner field. Over on the men's side Jack O'Neil took the victory with a personal record of his own, running a 14:55.00.

The steeplechase was next, which saw Christina Nash and Daniel Santino each take first place for Miami.

The day's first relay, the 4x100, commenced next. The team of Mallory Harr, Olivia Bechtel, Emily Hooker, and Sarah Bruns combined to run a 47.51 and take first place. This was the first of three relay victories for the RedHawks and the first of four titles Bechtel would claim on the day. For the RedHawk men, the team of Jeremiah Hunter, Cedric Asseh, Aaron Muresan, and Jake Owens ran a 41.62 to cross the line first.

The 1500m would prove to be one of the most successful events of the day for the Miami men. Christopher Torpy ran a 3:47.15 to win the event, pushing past his brother Sean Torpy on the final lap to overtake him. Seth Conroy rounded out the all-Miami podium with a third-place finish via a personal record 3:54.64 run. Conroy was one of five RedHawks to set PRs in the event, joined by David Coffey, Bradley Davis, Jonathan Fee, and Peter Cooke.

The 100m hurdles saw Bruns walk away with the victory after posting a 14.82. She just barely edged out Harr for the victory, who ran a 14.84. The men's 110m resulted in Muresan posting his second of four wins of the day as he set a new personal record with a 14.39 showing.

Both 400m races saw RedHawks go one-two, starting with Hooker (54.97) and Kalliopi Kountouri (55.19) on the women's side. Ivan Dye (49.03) and Owens (49.28) then repeated the feat for the men. Jacob Matthews rounded out the podium with a 49.45 third-place run.

The 100m crown was claimed by RedHawks on both sides, starting with Bechtel's personal-best 11.95 run for the women. Jeremiah Hunter ran a 10.67 to win for the men, edging out Luke Finnegan's 10.79.

In the men's 800m, Sean Torpy got some payback on his brother for the 1500, as this time it was Sean who surpassed Chris down the stretch to claim the win. Mitchell Towne also took a top-five spot. Rachel Kotchman won the women's race with a 2:15.08, while Emma Bryant claimed a fifth-place finish.

Muresan took home his third win of the day in the 400m hurdles, recording a time of 53.42. Freshman Nick Bosley, in his first collegiate run in the event, posted a 55.47 to snag third place. Bruns, fresh off a win in the 100m hurdles, claimed the women's 400h with a run of 1:03.58. Sonia Slusarczyk took the bronze with a 1:05.76.

Finnegan edged Hunter to win the men's 200m in a reversal of the pair's 100m placings, sticking his chest across the line 0.02 seconds before Hunter in the freshman's first career 200 run. Bechtel won the women's race with a 24.35.

While the RedHawks did not claim a victory in the 3000m, Charlie Harders and Ryan Sharkey (PR 8:30.61) still found the podium for the men while Maeagan Murphy and Sarah Starrett finished in the top five for the Miami women.

The track events concluded with two relays, the 4x800 and 4x400. Miami's women's team of Kotchman, Fry, Smith, and Jordan Grant put up a dominant 9:27.37 to win the 4x8; this number was also good for a George Rider Track record. The 4x400 was swept by both RedHawk teams, starting with the women's squad of Kountouri, Bruns, Hooker, and Bechtel that is fresh off a stellar indoor campaign. They ran a 3:43.38. For the men, Dye, Muresan, Owens, and Finnegan teamed up for a 3:18.34 run and first-place finish.

Even with all the success on the track, several of the day's most impressive school performances came in the day's field events. Kenny Glenn started his senior outdoor season with a bang as he broke his own school record with a monster 7.69m jump to take first in the long jump. Josh Linster finished third.

For the women, Danielle Collier's first javelin throw of the year did not disappoint as she set a facility record with a mammoth 53.31m throw. This won Collier the event, putting her more than 25 meters above the second-placed thrower.

Hannah Falcione picked up where she left off in the indoor campaign, jumping an 11.68m to win the triple jump. Falcione also took third in the long jump. In the high jump, both Molly Balcer and Hannah Bush set PRs and finished in the top five.

In the pole vault, the Miami women placed two on the podium as Emily Fletchall (3.52m) and Grace Dima (3.37m) took second and third respectively. Malcolm Melvin took second for the men as he cleared a distance of 4.57m.

Elsewhere in the throws, freshman Ryan Smith impressed in his first outdoor collegiate meet with top-three finishes in both the javelin and shot put. Travis Moore, Ben Artrip, and Ryan Williams were other RedHawk throwers with top-five performances.

The full list of results on the day can be found above.

Several RedHawk athletes are back in action next weekend, heading to the Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State.