TicketsMarch 31, 2011
Collegiate Results | High School Results | Collegiate Heat Sheet | High School Heat Sheet | Oliver Nikoloff Schedule & Information
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati track and field team hosts its second home meet of the outdoor season Friday and Saturday when it kicks off the 2011 Oliver Nikoloff Open at Gettler Stadium. The competition will begin at 11:30 a.m. Friday with the men's decathlon 100-meter dash.
"This is the second of our three home meets, so we are anticipating a good crowd as well as much-improved performances," said UC track and field head coach Bill Schnier. "Several of our athletes will be competing in secondary events and building for the future."
Cincinnati will compete against 14 other programs, including BIG EAST foe Marquette University and tri-state rivals University of Dayton, Miami (Ohio) University and Xavier University. Other schools slated to compete are Bellarmine, Cedarville, Findlay, IPFW, Kentucky State, Robert Morris (Pa.), Shawnee State, Ursuline College, Wheeling Jesuit and Wright State.
"Since this is a team-scored meet we will attempt to be first," Schnier said. "With the Big East only five weeks away we plan to prepare. Since it is a home meet we will absolutely defend our turf. We're very excited."
The Bearcats are coming off strong performances at their dual meets last weekend. The men's team competed at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C. while the women were at the University of Central Florida Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
Junior distance runner Eric Finan headlined the men's team after breaking his own 5,000-meter run school record by seven seconds with a blistering time of 13:54.72. Finan was the first collegian at the Raleigh Relays and now ranks ninth in the NCAA for 5K.
The women were paced by its relay teams at the UCF Invite. The 4x100 relay team (Fr. Cameron Gardner, Sr. Natasha Burse, So. Shanay Portis and Jr. Aricka Rhodes) set a school record time of 45.48, good for a fourth-place finished at the UCF Invitational. The UC 4x400 relay squad (Portis, Rhodes, Sr. Ashley Arnold and Jr. Kathy Klump) also set a UC record with a time of 3:42.22 in Orlando.
Cincinnati women's head coach Susan Seaton wants her team to build upon its strong performances from last week and record more BIG EAST qualifying marks, in the same manner as Klump (800-meter run) and freshman thrower Jessica Molyet (discus) did at the UCF Invite.
"We are looking forward to compete in front of our home crowd and will push to improve our individual event marks and standings in the Big East Conference," Seaton said.
In addition to collegiate action, the Nikoloff Open will feature a boys and girls high school division.
Day 1 of the Nikoloff Open will conclude at 6:45 p.m. with the women's 10,000-meter race. Action will resume Saturday morning, with multiple events scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.