TicketsJan. 15, 2010
AKRON, Ohio - In its second meet in six days, the University of Cincinnati indoor women's track and field team registered six individual victories and a relay triumph at the Akron Quad Meet Friday night at the Stile Field House. For the second week in a row, senior Jasmine Cotten broke her own school-record in the long jump, while junior Natasha Burse registered two victories in the sprinting events for the Bearcats.
Cotten became the first women's athlete to clear 20-feet in the long jump with a first-place leap of 20' 1-1/2". Cotten's record jump was not only a school record, but it was a NCAA Provisional mark. Last weekend at the Indiana Open, Cotten set the program record in the same event with a jump of 19' 9-3/4". In addition to her win in the long jump, Cotten took first-place honors in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.70 and finished second in the high jump with a clearance of 5' 4-1/4".
Burse flew past the field in the 100 meters with a time of 7.63, before completing a clean sweep of the sprinting events with a first-place mark of 24.92 in the 200 meters.
Sophomore Aricka Rhodes continued the trend of first-place winners for the Bearcats by winning the 400 meters in a time of 57.00. Senior Ashley Arnold was right behind Rhodes and finished second with a time of 57.29. Rhodes and Arnold were the only two runners to break 59.0 seconds in the event.
Sophomore Jenna Heaton posted a personal-best time in the 800 meters finishing the two laps in 2:15.44. Heaton's time is nearly a second faster than her previous personal best and marked her second individual win of the season after winning the 1,000 meters at the Indiana Open.
UC's final triumph came in the 4x400 relay with the quartet of freshman Shanay Portis, Heaton, Arnold, and Rhodes combined to cross the line in a time of 3:53.78.
The Bearcats also had solid finishes from Michelle Eby and Catherine Earl, who finished third and fifth in the pole vault and shot put, respectively. Eby cleared 12' 7-1/2" tying her personal best, while Earl threw 41' 1-3/4".
The Bearcats return to action next weekend when they return to Bloomington, Ind., for the second time in three weeks for the Gladstein Invitational. The meet takes place Jan. 22-23 at the Gladstein Fieldhouse.