Miami track and field to host 12th annual RedHawk Invitational

The Miami University RedHawks track and field team will host its last home meet, the RedHawk Invitational, at George L. Rider Track on Saturday, April 18.

Field events, which include hammer, shot put, discus, javelin, long jump, triple jump, pole vault and high jump, will run from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.. Freshman Kate Hallie previously set a school record for women’s discus on April 10 with a mark of 50.95 meters. Junior Ella Garvin will also be a player to watch for high jumps, as she has already qualified for the first round of the NCAA Division I championships.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another school record fall, or 10 personal bests across the board and everything in between,” coach Peterson said.

Running events will take place between 10:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. and will include the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 3000, and 5000 meter races. Hurdles and relays will also fall in between running events. Junior Jaxson Tober previously set a mark of 15.23 seconds in the 110 hurdles, good for second place at the Ball State We Fly Challenge event in Indianapolis. Distance runners will look to place a lot better than at previous meets.

““I tell our athletes to prepare for an inner-squad type of meet where we’re competing against each other,” coach Peterson said. “If we’re scoring the meet, we’re going to run away with it because there’s only one school with a full team and then a bunch of partials.”

Xavier University is the only confirmed school that is competing, but head coach Russel Peterson said a select few athletes from the University of Cincinnati and the University of Indianapolis will also be competing. With the smaller athlete attendance, the RedHawks have more of an opportunity to compete against each other in various events and receive higher scores.

“We have 98 kids on our team and what’s great about that is I can tell you 50 athletes that might blow up this weekend,” coach Peterson said.

Over the course of this season, the RedHawks have suffered a number of setbacks from the injury bug. The home field advantage will give Miami a break from traveling and an extra weekend to recover from these injuries. .

“We’re always playing ‘catch up’ with injuries in our sport in track and field, we’re a little bit more delicate,” said coach Peterson. “You have to be at 98 percent or greater to actually make an impact, and even if you’re 99 percent, a one percent decrease in your time is half a second, which could be a personal best.”

Miami will finish out its track season with three away meets before competing in the Mid-American Conference outdoor championships: The Jim Freeman/Clark Wood Invite at the University of Louisville from April 24-25, the Jesse Owens Invite at Ohio State University from May 1-2 and the Billy Hayes Invite at Indiana University on May 8.

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