TicketsFeb. 7, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. - In the final day of the Rod McCravy Invitational, the University of Cincinnati indoor track and field team had several standout performances led by sophomore Natasha Burse for the women and freshman Terrence Somerville and junior Antione Drakeford for the men.
Junior Jasmine Cotten got the squad off to a strong start with a second-place finish in the high jump. In her final jump, Cotten cleared 5' 08", after beginning at 5' 02 1/4".
Senior Lisa Klotz finished in 20th in the shot put, recording a throw of 43' 05 3/4" and freshman Camai Brandenberg finished in 17th place in the long jump with a mark of 17' 08 1/4".
To kick off the sprinting events, sophomore Kaylon Eppinger ran a time of 8.68 in the 60-meter hurdles to finish in 11th-place, before Burse broke her own school record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.54. Burse's time of 7.54 was one-tenth of a second faster than her previous school-record time set one week ago at the Penn State Nationals.
Junior Ashley Arnold had a Top five showing in the 400 meters, running a time of 55.64 seconds.
The trio of freshman Jenna Heaton, junior Megan McAuley, and freshman Jenny Harsh ran a solid race in the 800 meters, finishing in 11th, 12th, and 13th place.
Returning to the sprinting events, Burse ran extremely well for the second event in a row, finishing in fourth out of 53 runners. Burse crossed the line in 24.63 seconds.
In the men's pole vault, the duo of sophomore Shane Shockey and freshman Tommy Marks took first- and third-place honors, respectively. Shockey cleared a height of 16' 00 3/4", while Marks cleared 15' 07".
Sophomore Troy Cooper led the men in shot put capturing a seventh-place finish. Cooper, who had the top mark in the second of three flights, threw 53' 01 1/2" on his final attempt of the day.
In the long jump, senior Tim Poirier and freshman Zach Schmidt registered 11th- and 12th-place showings, before freshman Terrence Somerville showed off his speed in the 60-meter hurdles. After qualifying for the finals with a time of 7.97 seconds, Somerville completed a time of 7.91 seconds to finish second. Somerville's time was a NCAA provisional mark.
Junior Ekundayo Igeleke ran a time of 6.89 seconds in the 60-meter dash, finishing 13th, before junior Antione Drakeford dazzled in the 400 meters. Drakeford recorded a NCAA Provisional mark of 46.59 seconds, which was second among 25 competitors.
Senior Alex Ramsey notched a 10th-place showing with a time of 1:52.96 in the 800 meters, before Igeleke and freshman Eric Finan finished in 17th and 14th place, respectively, in the 200 meters and 3000 meters.
Finally for the men, the 4x400 squad finished in second with a time of 3:15.79.
UC next competes at the All-Ohio Meet in Findlay, Ohio Feb. 13-14