April 18, 2009

OXFORD, Oh. - The University of Dayton women's track team had its best finish ever at the All-Ohio Championships this weekend at Miami University as two members qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships. The Flyers scored 70 points overall during the two-day meet and claimed sixth place amongst some of the best competition in the state of Ohio.

After four events scored on Friday evening, the rest of the meet wrapped up on Saturday afternoon.

Ashley Cattran, who competed in the 800 meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year, ran the open 800 for just the second time during the outdoor season. Showing no signs of rust, however, the sophomore placed second in the meet and qualified for NCAA Regionals with her time of 2:08.07.

Mallory Barnes also qualified for the NCAA Regional Meet, which will take place in late May, in the hammer throw. The second-year field specialist placed sixth overall with a distance of 178-05 and also competed in the discus throw, where she finished tenth (137-06).

On Friday night, the highlight was Maureen Bulgrin's school-record time in the 1,500 meter race. The sophomore placed second in the 5K with her result of 17:02. She was joined in the top-ten by classmate Liz Coorey, who seized seventh-place and came across the finish line in 17:41.80.

In the 10,000 meter race, junior Kristin Terry finished tenth overall with a time of 40:08.44. Another distance runner, senior Ellen Nienhaus, earned eighth-place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (11:37.02).

The Flyers also had three placers in the javelin event. Senior Amy Kremer had the longest throw of the bunch, finishing fifth overall (119-05). Following in eighth-place was junior Molly McCarty (116-08) and another senior, Emily Krizmanic, took tenth with her distance of 114-09.

Junior Lauren McCormick placed in the top-ten in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes on Saturday. Her time in the 100, 12.21, was good for ninth-place as she took tenth in the 200 with a 25.07 finish. She was joined in the top-ten by classmate Brittany Thomas, who ran the 100 meter race in 12.29 to place tenth.

In the 400 meter event, senior Stacy Chew finished fourth in a time of 57.54 and freshman Rachel Weber nabbed a sixth-place finish in 57.79.

The Flyers also excelled in the relays, where both teams flew to top-three finishes. The 4x100 team of Thomas, McCormick, Kate Muskat and Lauren O'Brien set a school record with their combined time of 47.46 as the foursome finished third overall. In the 4x400 race, the Flyer team of Weber, Chew, Cattran and Sarah Howley finished second overall (3:51.22).

UD had two placers in the high jump during Saturday's field events. Sophomore Tiffany Maske and Kremer both finished with the same height of 5-05.00 as they tied for fourth-place.

In the triple jump, junior Andrea Funk struck sixth-place with her combined mark of 35-04.50.

Freshman pole vaulter Courtney Siebenaller tied her second-best height of the season (12-01.50) en route to a third-place finish and junior Sarah Allen nabbed ninth-place in the shot put with a throw of 44-02.50.

After another record-breaking spring, the team will now have one last tune-up on April 25 at IUPUI in Indianapolis, Ind. before the Atlantic 10 Championships, which will take place on May 2 and 3 in Charlotte, N.C.