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Freshman Magda Wikar lands in the sand while competing in the long jump. The women's team won the Miami Challenge for the third year in a row. The men's team was also victorious, winning the home event for the second time in three years.

MU runs with winning tradition

Men's and women's teams beat weather to win Miami Team Challenge

By: Chris Bernardi

Posted: 4/15/08

Both the Miami men's and women's track and field teams dominated this weekend while competing in their second and final home meet of the season. Each took first place to continue the tradition of wining at the annual Miami Team Challenge.

The George L. Rider Track at Miami provides a real home field advantage for the RedHawks.

For the women, the win marks their eighth victory in 12 years at the Miami Team Challenge. The men's victory is their second in three years after finishing in second last year.

"Every team should guard their home facility with passion and excitement," women's head coach Richard Ceronie said. "And we've been very fortunate to do that over the past couple of years."

In the women's meet, the RedHawks won with a score of 212 points while Bowling Green State University placed a distant second with 92.

The University at Buffalo came in third place with 88.5 points while Ohio was fourth with 80.

Not only did the Miami women have to step up to the challenge of competing with 13 teams at this weekend's 12th Annual Miami Team Challenge, but they faced strong winds and chilly temperatures as well.

The RedHawks seemed to be unfazed by the poor weather conditions as they trounced their opponents, giving the team their third straight victory at the event.

"Mentally people kind of get frustrated with (the weather)," junior hurdler Julia Dempster said. "We just have to realize that everyone is in the same conditions no matter what team you're on so you just kind of have to overcome it. The wind sucked but you just deal with it."

Weather factored in both negatively and positively for the competing athletes depending on the event.

"The wind helps the sprinters because it's at their back," Ceronie said. "But for the longer distance racers it gets really tough because they have to fight that wind. If there was no wind today there would have been some really fast performances."

Weather aside, the team was sparked with strong performances from several individuals but also great team work. Sophomore Margarita Pogorelov swept the 100- and 200-meter dashes with respective times of 11.85 seconds and 24.64 seconds.

The 4x100 meter relay team took first with a time of 47.83 seconds while the 4x100 meter relay team found its way into the winner's circle with a time of 3 minutes, 57.82 seconds.

Other notable performances came from sophomore Jessica Dewitt who won the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:26.17 and senior Kristina Bolterstein who won the high jump at a height of 5-7.

Miami's men's track and field team matched the women's first place success with a first place finish of their own.

The RedHawks beat 10 teams and won 10 events netting them a total of 260.5 points, while Buffalo was second with 181.

Miami's victory marks the second consecutive strong outing as the men took third out of 18 teams at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational April 5th.

RedHawk senior Dan Beach took the spotlight early Friday afternoon as he set a personal best with a mark of 194-1 on his third attempt in the hammer throw.

The score beats his previous high of 192-1, which he set just last week at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational in Cincinnati. Beach said that he is receiving great help from his coaches, which is allowing him his recent success.

"I was pretty happy with (the performance)," Beach said. "I think there's definitely more to come. We have been making some good headway, me and coach Creekmur, and we've just been trying to clean up the technique. It's been improving so hopefully it keeps improving."

Pat Sovacool won both the 1500-meters at 3:56.25 and 800-meters at 1:55.04.

Michael Veatch won the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:26.67, while Josh Rees and Kevin Dwyer took first and second in the long jump with distances of 23-5 1/4 to 23-2 3/4 respectively.

Travis Brumm won the high jump by clearing 6-6 3/4. Jake Kuhner was victorious in the pole vault after clearing a height of 15-7.

Right behind him was Chris Skaggs at 15-1 and Matt Rudin at 14-7 1/4 in second and third. Matt Kessler won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.56, while Eric Horvath took second at 57.41.

Miami also excelled in the team events. The MU 4X400-meter relay team won with a time of 3:23.74, while the RedHawk 4X100-meter relay team was second in their race at 42.09.

Both the men's and women's track and field teams will travel to Cincinnati to compete in the All-Ohio Championships April 18 and 19.