TicketsJan. 27, 2010
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati men's and women's indoor track and field teams return to action this weekend when they travel to Lexington, Ky., to compete in the Rod McCravy Invitational on Jan. 29-30, at the Nutter Field House on the University of Kentucky campus.
Just three weeks away from the BIG EAST Indoor Championships in New York, N.Y., the Bearcats look to step up their performances against top-notch competition.
"We are now going into the peaking phase of our season," said women's head coach Susan Seaton. "We are really focusing on performing at the top of our game. This will be the first meet this season where we face national level competition in all events and it will be a great test to see where we are."
The meet begins on Friday, Jan. 29, at 6 p.m., with the men's weight throw. In addition to the men's weight throw, the women's weight throw, the women's pole vault, men's high jump, and the men's and women's triple jump will be contested on Friday evening.
Last weekend, both the men's and women's squads had great performances at the Gladstein Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. On the women's side, seniors Tamara Masters, Lilian Jelimo, and Jocelyn McCauley all qualified for the BIG EAST Indoor Championships with conference qualifying marks in the 5,000 meters. With the distance trio punching their ticket to New York City, the women's squad now has 17 athletes that have qualified for the conference meet in 21 different events.
UC's women's team also had a strong performance last weekend from junior Natasha Burse, who won the 60-meter dash and placed second in the 200 meter invitational with a season-best time of 24.89.
In its first action of the indoor season last weekend, the men's team had several stand-out performances from a trio of athletes. On the opening night of competition, sophomore Terrence Somerville posted a personal-best time in the preliminaries of the 60 hurdles with a mark of 7.87, which is the fourth fastest time in the event in the NCAA this season. The following night, Somerville capped off the weekend with a win in the finals of the 60 hurdles.
Fellow sophomores Eric Finan and Troy Cooper also competed well for the Bearcats in the 3000 meters and shot put, respectively. Finan was dominating in the 3000 meters, winning in a PR time of 8:20.36. The time moved him from eighth to third on UC's all-time list in the event. Cooper managed to finish second in the shot put with a toss of 54' 11-1/4", continuing his trend of top finishes in the shot put from a season ago.
Stay tuned to GoBEARCATS.com for a complete recap of the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet.