Men's Track and Field to Kick Off 2006 Outdoor Season
3/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
KENT, Ohio The Kent State University mens and womens track and field teams will kick off the 2006 outdoor season by splitting into three groups this upcoming weekend, sending the multi-event athletes, track competitors and throwers to separate events.
The decathletes will travel to Tucson, Ariz., Thursday and Friday, March 23-24, for the Jim Click Combined Events. The runners and sprinters will head to Raleigh, N.C., for the 2006 adidas Raleigh Relays Friday and Saturday, March 24-25, the same days the throwers will be competing at the Fred Hardy Invitational in Richmond, Va.
Were looking forward to this weekend. We know that well be seeing very high levels of competition at each meet and were eager to see how well do at some of the most prestigious meets in the country, head coach Bill Lawson said.
The men come off of a second-place finish (134 points) at the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships behind Eastern Michigan University (171). Junior Chris Caine (Munroe Falls, Ohio/Toledo) was the only male KSU athlete to bring home a title in this years championship meet, finishing first in the heptathlon with 5097 points, an NCAA provisional qualifying score.
The women will attempt to rebound from a seventh-place finish at the MAC Championships where the team was led by the strength of their throwers. Sophomore LeVania Henderson (Westland, Mich./Livonia Churchill) won her first individual MAC title in the shot put with a toss of 48-6 ¾. Senior Kelly Braden (Norwalk, Ohio/Western Reserve) was victorious in the 20-lb weight throw with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 61-5, her first MAC title.
Returning to the Golden Flash roster for the men is senior Phil Rickaby (N.S.W., Australia/Winamalee), the reigning MAC champion in the javelin. The women reenlist the talents of seniors Jeanna Fascione (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) (800m), Jennifer Fascione (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) (800m), Molly Hammer (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria) (5000m, 10000m) and junior Nicole Brandstadter (Gibsonia, Pa./Deer Lakes).
