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RedHawks finish second, third at Oliver Nikoloff Meet

Melissa Maykut, Staff Writer

The Miami University men's track and field team placed second at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational this weekend in Cincinnati. The women's team split the weekend, finishing third at the Oliver Nikoloff Open while the throwers competed in the Missouri Relays.

Despite windy conditions, the men's track and field team took home two event titles and five runner-up finishes, earning 130 team points behind the University of Cincinnati's 145 points at Gettler Stadium April 1 and 2.

"They competed very well. Everyone had nice performances," head coach Warren Mandrell said. "Overall it was a nice meet."

Sophomore John Cantwell clinched the win in the triple jump with a personal best leap of 46-1.5/14.06 meters. Cantwell has another personal best in the long jump when he placed second with a jump of 22-5/6.83 meters.

Senior Robbie Fisher ran away with the 3000 meter steeplechase in a personal best time of 9:12.15. Fisher's time now ranks 26thnationally.

"I was pretty happy with my performance," Fisher said. "I think it kind of helped set the tone for the other guys."

Senior Justin Eddie placed second in the 100 meter dash and freshman Jahquil Hargrove finished runner-up in the 400 meter dash.

The final two second place finishes came from sophomore Jack Spilman in the 800 meter run and sophomore Jarrod Eick who ran the 5000 meter run for the first time in his career.

Junior Nathan Hotch finished third in the discus with a personal best heave of 166-2/50.65 meter. This places Hotch ninth on Miami's All-Time Top 10s List.

The women's track and field team placed third at the Oliver Nikoloff Open with three event titles and four runner up finishes. The RedHawks earned 90 points at the meet, behind the University of Dayton who earned 121.5 points and Cincinnati who won the meet with 200 points.

Senior Katie Lenahan placed first in the 800 meter run in a time of 2:11.46. The second win for Miami came from junior Maggie Bingham who ran away with the 3000 meter steeplechase in 11:02.02. Senior Magda Wikar clinched the final win for the RedHawks in the long jump with a personal best leap of 18-4.5/5.60 meters.

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Junior Diona Graves placed second in the 200 meter dash, while senior Hope Alexander was runner up in the triple jump.

The final two runner up finishes came from the 4x100 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay teams. Freshman Ariel Johnson, sophomores Layne Bagget and Katie Scannel and Graves made up the 4x100 meter relay team. The 4x400 relay team was comprised of senior Ruth Rasch, freshman Kelsey Barnes and juniors Tasha Profit and Rachael Clay.

The women's track and field team throwers competed in the Missouri Relays this weekend to replace the usual Ohio teams they compete against with some tougher competition.

"We're performing well," throw coach Ross Richardson said. "It's early in the season and I feel like we're just starting to put together some of the things we're doing in practice into competition."

Freshman Tori Pattera won the javelin throw with a heave of 144-8/44.11 meters, the fourth best throw in school history. Junior Samantha Gable placed second in the hammer throw and junior Alexandra Roberts placed third in the shot put.

"There were some new schools there that we've never competed against so it was good to get that experience in," Gable said.

Both the men's and women's teams return to action April 8 and 9 when they host the Miami Invitational, the first of two home meets this season.