TicketsApril 30, 2011
| RedHawk Invitational Results
DES MOINES, Iowa/OXFORD, Ohio - The University of Cincinnati men's and women's track and field teams showcased a number of admirable performances, including three new school records, Saturday at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa and the RedHawk Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.
"It took us over 100 years to win four events at the Drake Relays, but on Saturday we won two more," said Cincinnati track and field head coach Bill Schnier.
Junior Terrence Somerville ran the 110-meter hurdles in a personal-best 13.48 seconds, which broke the 24-year-old standard of 13.49 held by Vernon George of Texas Southern since 1987. His time is an astounding .45 seconds faster than his previous best recorded April 10 at the Miami Invitational, ranks seventh in the NCAA and is just .06 seconds behind former Bearcat and U.S. Olympian David Payne's record set in 2004.
Somerville earned his second championship at the Drake Relays as the anchor of the Bearcat men's 4x110-meter shuttle hurdle relay team. Sophomore Dailyn Moore,junior Mario Cannon, freshman Steven Mitchell and Somerville combined to record a first-place time of 57.48 seconds.
"With those hurdle victories for the men and our women's fourth place in their shuttle hurdle relay, the Bearcats have become one of the top hurdle schools in the United States," Schnier said.
The Bearcat women's 4x100 shuttle hurdle team of junior Hauna Dawkins, freshman Kaitlyn Good, senior Sharika Thompson and junior Paris Campbell set a school-record time of 56.62 seconds, which was good for fourth place. The previous school record was 57.36 seconds, set in 2009 by Jasmine Cotton, Campbell, Brianna Patton and Kaylon Eppinger.
The UC women's team also set a school record in the 4x100 relay race. Freshman Morgan Gordon, senior Natasha Burse, sophomore Shanay Portis and junior Aricka Rhodes finished in 45.06 seconds, good for sixth place. The previous record was 45.65 seconds, set on March 19 at the Early Bird Relays.
"We are extremely excited about how well the team performed at the Drake Relays," said women's head coach Susan Seaton. "A double-champion and two school records in front of a big crowd against the best teams in the nation are big-ime accomplishments."
At the RedHawk Invite, freshmen Mary Bridges and Jessica Molyet both finished first and second after they broke the school record in the discus throw with distances of 160 feet, 4 inches and 160 feet, 1 inch, respectively. The previous school record was Kelly Krupa's 1999 mark of 159 feet, 4 inches.
The Cincinnati women added four additional first place finishes. Junior Alison Zukowski won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:35.55. In the 400-meter hurdle event, freshman Gabby Calderone placed first after finishing with a time of 1:03.97. UC cleaned up in the pole vault event when four Bearcats placed in the top four, led by freshman Sarah Rasnick, who placed first with a height of 3.87 meters (12 feet, 8.25 inches). In the shot put, sophomore Jessica Cobb recorded a first-place distance of 14.47 meters (47 feet, 5.75 inches).
The Cincinnati men's team recorded three individual championships at the RedHawk Invitational. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Chase Beckmann finished with a No. 1 time of 9:30.20. Like their women counterparts, the UC men came out on top in both the pole vault and shot put. Junior Tommy Marks cleared a height of 5.05 meters (16 feet, 6.75 inches) to place first in the pole vault, while senior thrower Troy Cooper recorded a distance of 16.64 meters (54 feet, 7.25 inches) in the shot put to claim the No. 1 mark.
Cincinnati is now set for the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships, Friday through Sunday in Villanova, Pa.
"We can't wait for the BIG EAST Championships next week at Villanova," added Schnier.