TF Heads To Music City Challenge This Weekend

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati track and field team makes a return trip to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend for the Music City Challenge at the Vanderbilt Multipurpose Facility.

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TF Heads To Music City Challenge This WeekendTF Heads To Music City Challenge This Weekend
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati track and field team makes a return trip to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend for the Music City Challenge at the Vanderbilt Multipurpose Facility.

Twenty-nine members of the women's team and 22 from the men's side will compete this weekend at the two-day meet.

Friday night sees Bearcats in action in the high jump, long jump, men's pole vault, weight throw, 200m, distance medley relay and the 5,000m. Field events get underway at 4:30 p.m. ET with running events starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Saturday events get rolling at 11:30 a.m. ET with the women's pole vault, followed by the shot put and triple jump.

Running events start at 2 p.m. ET with UC student-athletes in the 60m hurdles, 60m dash, 400m, women's 800m and 4x400m relay.

// BLAUT COMING OFF AWARD-WINNING WEEK
High jumper Loretta Blaut was named the American Athletic Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Week for the third time this season on Monday. She posted three of the best four jumps in the NCAA last week at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station, Texas. The senior, a four-time American champion and two-time national runner-up, set a facility record and tied her own conference, school and personal records with her first-place jump of 1.87 meters (6-01.50) on Friday, which is currently tied for the national lead this season. She previous earned the weekly AAC honor on January 15 and December 11, 2018. Blaut won the high jump with a mark of 1.72m at the Vanderbilt Invitational last month.

// CATHERINE LOOKING FOR REPEAT PERFORMANCE AT VANDY
The Music City Challenge has been a great meet for pole vaulter Brooke Catherine in recent years. In 2017, she cleared 3.89m (12-09.00) for her indoor PR and a mark that ranked her #8 all-time in program history. In 2018, she bettered that mark several times and did so twice at the 2018 Music City Challenge. Recently, she had cleared 4.12m before clearing 4.15m earlier in the competition Saturday and she followed that up with a second-attempt clearance at 4.26m (13-11.75) before missing three times at 4.31m (14-01.75). She finished third in the competition at 4.26m.

With that clearance, Catherine not only broke the school record of 4.25m that Mackenzie Fields cleared in 2013, but also improved her PR by 1' 2.75" over last year's best mark (3.89m). Catherine's record mark also ranked her #1 in the AAC by 4.5" and placed her 16th on the NCAA order list. Catherine earned AAC weekly honors following the meet last year.

// RECORDS FALL AT 2018 CHALLENGE
Three school records were set by the Bearcats at last year's Music City Challenge. The women broke a pair of records as Brooke Catherine snapped the pole vault mark while the team of Tiona Lattimore, Haisha Bisiolu, Deanna Gesicki and Bryana Robinson combined to reset their own 4x400m relay mark. The final record came on the men's side as Austin Edwards tied the mark in the 60m dash.

// BEARCATS RANKING IN TOP-75
400m
73. Tiona Lattimore - 54.97 (Vanderbilt Invitational)

High Jump
t-1. Loretta Blaut - 1.87m (Charlie Thomas Invitational)

Long Jump
t-75. Irati Mitxelena - 5.94m (Hoosier Open)

Triple Jump
t-48. Irati Mitxelena - 12.53m (Hoosier Open)

Shot Put
57. Malin Smith - 15.33m (Charlie Thomas Invitational)

Pentathlon
19. Naomi Urbano - 3,873 points (Charlie Thomas Invitational)
21. Angelica Lightfoot - 3,862 points (Charlie Thomas Invitational)
63. Katie Straus - 3,587 points (Thundering Herd Invitational)

// COMPETING TEAMS
Vanderbilt, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, East Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee State, Memphis, Lipscomb and Milligan, UCF, Cincinnati, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Illinois State, Indiana State, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota State, Rice, Southern Methodist, Towson, Tulane, Western Kentucky and Xavier.

// ADMISSION & PARKING
General admission tickets are available at the facility for $5. Doors will open at 3 p.m. ET on Friday and 10 a.m. ET on Saturday.
 
Spectators can park in the 25th Avenue Garage (levels 9-11) prior to 7 p.m. ET and then in lot #75 off of Natchez Trace after 7 p.m. ET on Friday. On Saturday, spectators can use lot #75.