ALLENDALE, MI - The 4x400 meter relay team broke the 15-year school record in the event to highlight the University of Toledo track and field team's second day of action at The Big Meet, hosted by Grand Valley State.

The team of Kimara Morgan, Amanda Kaverman, Danielle Jacoby and freshman Sarah Woodrum finished sixth in the relay with a time of 3:50.79. The previous record of 3:51.49 was set in 1995.

"What a way to end the meet," head coach Kevin Hadsell said. "That is a tough school record to beat and I'm really proud of the girls. They took nearly three seconds off their best time this year in the process."

Junior Ari Fisher won the 3000 meter run invite in a time of 9:43.22, 10 seconds faster than Purdue's Kristin Phillips. Her mark moves her into fourth on the UT all-time list behind a trio of All-Americans in Briana Shook (2004), Everlyne Lagat (2003) and Ebba Stenbeck (2007). Seniors Renata Volf and Dagna Sztykiel took fourth and fifth, respectively, in the event.

Toledo runners also dot the top of the MAC Rankings in the 5000-meters after four different women broke the 18:00 barrier this weekend. Junior Audra Brown led the Rockets in 17:28.61, which is the fifth-fastest time in the MAC this year. She was followed this weekend by freshman Emma Kertesz in 17:32.56 (No. 6 in the MAC), junior Lindsey Toussant 17:33.65 (No. 8), and sophomore Sarah Neubacher in 17:55.22 (No. 13). The Rockets are sitting at second, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, 12th and 13th on MAC list in the event.

Kaverman, meanwhile, won the 400 meter open race with her mark of 57.05. Freshman Samantha Condron finished eighth in the 3000 meter run open in 10:43.52, while junior Joni Camp placed 10th in the 5000 meter run open (18:25.26).

The Rockets placed a pair of competitors in the top-10 of the triple jump, as Alexandra Afloari finished sixth (11.95m) and freshman Yuhong Fu took seventh (11.77m). Afloari's triple jump performance comes on the heels of her effort in Friday's pentathlon, in which her tally of 3505 moves her just ahead of sophomore Julie Snyder's 3501 into fourth on the all-time Toledo list. Snyder's high jump of 5' 7" moves her into a tie for fifth on UT all-time list and puts Snyder in sixth on the MAC list.

"We had a lot of huge improvements this week," Hadsell said. "We have been working hard and, for an incredibly young team, we showed a lot of poise. We have an opportunity to battle for a MAC Indoor Championship in two weeks, which has never happened."

Toledo will compete at the Kent State Tune-Up next Saturday, Feb. 20 in preparation for the MAC Championships, which are hosted by Central Michigan on Feb. 26-27.

Contact: Scott Miles
scott.miles@utoledo.edu