TOLEDO, OH - The Toledo track and field team rallied from an early deficit and defended its home turf in the first meet at the renovated UT Varsity Track, defeating MAC foes Bowling Green and Ohio on Saturday at the Toledo Collegiate Challenge.

Under chilly but clear conditions, the Rockets pulled away down the stretch, finishing with a total of 144.5 points. Bowling Green placed second with 131 points and Ohio came in third with 127.5 points.

Through 13 events, Bowling Green had an 8.5 point lead on both Toledo and Ohio, but UT steadily narrowed that gap before coming away with the win.

"I'm pleased that we won," Kevin Hadsell, head coach, said. "We have a long season ahead of us and a lot of work to do. However, we battled back the second-half of the meet to win and I'm happy with that.

"The first meet in the new facility was a huge success. We had a great crowd and this is a facility we are incredibly proud to call our own."

Kiah Douglas recorded a decisive victory in the long jump with a leap of 19-08.00 on her second-to-last jump, over a foot farther than her nearest competitor.

Alexandra Afloari also claimed a victory on Saturday, winning the 100 meter hurdles in a time of 15.09. Alecia Zaper took third with her time of 15.45.

Toledo went one-two in the 400 meter dash, as Amanda Kaverman won with a time of 56.92 and Danielle Jacoby took second with a time of 58.02.

Kimara Morgan sprinted her way to a win in the 100 meter dash in the second heat with a time of 12.42, .04 in front of second-place.

Audra Brown scored a victory in the 3000 meter run with her time of 10:28.40, followed by Lindsay Toussant in 10:30.80. Karen Sovacool was fourth in 10:40.80.

The Rockets swept the top-four spots in the triple jump, led by Jaime Gittens (37-03) in first and Yuhong Fu (36-07) in second. Kiah Douglas placed third (36-03.50) and Katie Bollin finished fourth (35-04.5).

Then, with the victory already secured, UT's 4x400 relay team (Morgan, Kaverman, Joyce Kennedy, Sarah Woodrum) breezed to a 4.5 second win with a time of 3:58.73.

UT had a number of other top finishes. Michelle Sutherland and Alexandra Afloari went two-three in the high jump, with Sutherland clearing 5-04.25 and Afloari hitting 5-02.25.

Sam Condron passed two runners in the final lap to place second in the 5000 meter run with a time of 18:27.76. Other distance success was found in the steeplechase, as Emma Kertesz recorded a second-place showing (7:16.45) and Hannah Brisson took third (7:28.39).

The Rockets were nipped at the finish line in the 4x100 relay, taking second by .05 in a time of 47.34. That team was comprised of Morgan, Kaverman, Woodrum and Douglas.

UT had a pair of solid finishes in the 800 meter run, with Kristal Studer taking second in 2:25.34 and Kennedy, in her season debut, placing third (2:25.48). Toledo also went two-three in the 200 meter dash, with Woodrum in second (25.81) and Morgan in third (25.98). Woodrum was just .05 out of first place.

Finally, Paulina Handzlik finished third in the pole vault with a height of 10-00, while Brown placed third in the 1500 meter run with a mark of 4:47.12, followed by Toussant in fourth (4:48.92).

"What also made this victory more impressive is that we were missing three or four of our top athletes today," Hadsell said. "They should be back for the next meet and that's going to really bump this program up the MAC ladder."

The Rockets return to action on Friday at the Texas Relays in Austin, TX.

Contact: Scott Miles
scott.miles@utoledo.edu