Indoor Track & Field Completes Day 1 of New Balance Invitational

Indoor Track & Field Completes Day 1 of New Balance InvitationalIndoor Track & Field Completes Day 1 of New Balance Invitational

Feb. 5, 2010

NEW YORK CITY - The University of Cincinnati women's indoor track and field team opened up competition at the 2010 New Balance Invitational and registered four Top 5 finishes in its most competitive meet of the season.

The highlight of the night came from the Distance Medley Relay team of Jenna Heaton, Aricka Rhodes, Kathy Klump, and Tamara Masters. In an event that is not frequently run, the quartet ran to a fifth-place time of 12:01.03, which is the third-fastest mark in school history.

In individual events, sophomore Aricka Rhodes put together another strong 400 meters in the championship flight with a time below 56 seconds. Rhodes now has collected back-to-back sub-56 -second 400's, while senior Ashley Arnold ran a seasonal-best mark of 56.49 to place fifth in the open 400 meters.

Sophomore Mackenzie Fields had a solid showing in the championship flight of the pole vault tying for 10th place with a clearance of 12' 9-1/2". In what has been UC's deepest event on the year, seniors Stephanie Ponte and Kayla Dunn displayed that depth with a third- and eighth-place finish, respectively, in the open pole vault. Ponte's clearance of 11' 9-3/4" was a PR.

Freshman Shanay Portis had an extremely productive outing and continued her improvement in two events. Portis set a new BIG EAST qualifying-best mark in the long jump with a mark of 18' 4", before clocking a BIG EAST qualifying mark in a new event, the 200 meters, with a time of 25.50.

In other sprinting events, junior Natasha Burse posted two Top 10 finishes in the 60 meters and the 200 meters. Burse clocked in at 7.71 in the 60 meters to place fourth and crossed the line in 25.10 to place 10th in the 200 meters.

Finally, senior Jasmine Cotton advanced to the finals of the championship flight of the long jump and finished in a tie for 10th with a jump of 19' 5-3/4".

UC resumes action at the 2010 New Balance Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 6.