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Miami track travels to Kentucky for final tune-up

<p>A Miami sprinter bursts out of the blocks at George L. Rider Track in Oxford</p>

A Miami sprinter bursts out of the blocks at George L. Rider Track in Oxford

By Ben Blanchard, Sports Editor

The Miami University track and field program will compete in its final regular season meet, the Kentucky Relays, this weekend. The RedHawks hope to utilize this final opportunity to sharpen their skills before qualifying athletes head to the Mid-American Conference Championships next weekend.

Miami will also look to continue its recent team success, as it hosted and dominated the RedHawk Invite last weekend, winning 15 events.

Sophomore Kenny Glenn contributed three of these victories, winning the 100m dash and long jump individually before anchoring the victorious 4x100m relay team.

"I feel confident and strong going into Kentucky after last weekend, hopefully I can pick up a few more wins to carry some momentum into the postseason," Glenn said.

Senior Kathie Wollney has been another consistent standout for Miami this season, as she won the 400m hurdles and was a part of the winning 4x400m relay last weekend.

"I think the team feels great right now, I know that I personally do. We just need to trust all of the training that we've put in and go out there and compete," Wollney said.

Last weekend, Junior Vinnie Minosky won the 400m hurdles in 53.74, then ran on the winning 4x400m men's relay team for Miami. The rest of the relay included senior Adam Bodrick and first-years Jake Owens and Aaron Mursean.

Owens and Bodrick each took individual titles of their own, with Owens winning the 400m in 49.15 and Bodrick the 200m dash in 22.80.

Junior throwers Arionna Darling and Ashley Frahm will also look to continue their recent success, as they went 1-2 in the shot put at the RedHawk Invite. Darling took title in 48-7.5, while Frahm was second in 44-2.

First-year Matt Owens has been another asset for Miami, as he won the RedHawk Invite pole vault title in 15-9.

Several of Miami's top distance runners, including senior standout Joe Stewart, will not be competing this weekend. These athletes look forward to a weekend of rest and recovery after their last intensive week of training.

"It would be great to race at Kentucky, but resting the legs right now is really important," Stewart said. "We don't want to put our postseason goals at risk by racing too much this late in the year, even though it would be nice to have another race that isn't do-or-die."

Miami will be joined in Kentucky by the following universities; Berea, Birmingham Southern, Cincinnati, Eastern Kentucky, Emory, Kentucky, Kentucky Wesleyan, Lipscomb, Limestone, Lindsey Wilson, Marshall, Northern Kentucky, Rhodes College, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee, Wesleyan, Transylvania, Union, Western Ontario and Xavier.

The Kentucky Relays begin 9 a.m. Saturday at the UK Outdoor Track and Field Complex in Lexington, Kentucky.