DePaul University Athletics
Track and Field Travels To Tampa For Conference USA Championships
5/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S TRACK
May 9, 2001
Meeting In Tampa - The sixth edition of the Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships take place May 10-12 at the USF Track Stadium in Tampa, Fla. This is the second time that the University of South Florida has hosted the conference championships. It was also the site for the 1998 meet.
DePaul at the C-USA Championships - Through five conference meets the DePaul track and field teams have placed as high as fifth for the men's team in 1997 and seventh for the women's squad in 1996. Three DePaul athletes from each team have won C-USA Championships with the last being Carey Ryan in the men's hammer throw and Montia Gardner in the discus a year ago.
Men's Team Results - 2000: T8th, 1999: 9th, 1998: 9th, 1997: T5th, 1996: 8th
Women's Team Results - 2000: 11th, 1999: 11th, 1998: 11th, 1997: 10th, 1996: 7th
Individual Champions - 2000: Montia Gardner (women's discus) and Carey Ryan (men's hammer), 1999: Jim Costello (men's hammer), 1997: Natalie Pearson (women's hammer), 1996: Otis Dunson (men's 110m hurdles) and Sherry Holmes (women's javelin)
Head Coach Gordon Thomson - Gordon Thomson is in his second season as head coach at DePaul. In addition to leading the track and field programs, he is also head coach of the men's and women's cross country teams. Since moving south after 16 seasons at Loyola-Chicago, Thomson has undertaken a building process with the Blue Demons.
At Loyola, he coached nine All-Americans and won seven Midwestern Collegiate Conference Cross Counry Championships. For his efforts, Thomson was named MCC Coach of the Year 10 times.
Away from DePaul, he also directs Nike North, a national club team for post-collegiate runners. Under Thomson, Nike North has produced a pair of national cross country championships. He is the President of the United States Cross Country Coaches Association and serves as the Olympic Development Chairman for the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Ryan Named Athlete of the Week - Senior thrower Carey Ryan has earned C-USA's Athlete of the Week honor twice during the outdoor season. The 2000 All-American was co-winner on April 3 after reaching the NCAA automatic distance in the hammer throw at the Florida Relays. Ryan also won the honor on May 1 after becoming the first DePaul athlete to win an event at Drake Relays. He won the award once last season.
Recapping the Outdoor Season
Alabama Relays (March 24-25) - The outdoor season opened with a spring break trip that started in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Senior Carey Ryan finished second in the hammer throw with a distance of 66.68 meters. Ryan just missed winning the event as John McEwen threw 69.12 meters. The DePaul 4x1500 meter relay team of Matt Plano, Luis Samayoa, Larry Vonckx and Chris Birchall finished in fourth place with a time of 16:29.03. On the women's side, Megan Greeley was seventh in the javelin throw. The sophomore finished with a throw of 39.14 meters. Fellow sophomore Susan Stoffel was 20th in the discus throw with a toss of 37.82 meters. The 4x1500 meter relay team of Mary Vonckx, Erin Moffett, Jessica Karlin and Leah Rygh finished with a time of 19:50.69 which placed them fifth.
Florida Relays (March 30-31) - The DePaul outdoor track and field teams wrapped up their Spring Break trip by competing at the Florida Relays in Gainesville. Carey Ryan won the hammer throw with a distance of 68.72 meters and automatically qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Other top finishers for DePaul included Megan Greeley and Katie Sullivan. Greeley placed seventh in the women's javelin throw with a mark of 34.52 meters while Sullivan tied for fifth with a high jump of 1.55 meters.
Lee Calhoun Invite (March 14) - A meet record and three school records fell for DePaul in Monmouth, Ill. at the Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational. The women's team scored a combined 101.0 points to finish third out of 12 teams while the men's team placed fifth out of 12 with a team score of 76.0 points. On the women's side, Montia Gardner set a new school record in the hammer throw with a throw of 158'09.00" (48.38m). She was followed by Susan Stoffel and Megan Greeley to complete the DePaul sweep in the event. Stoffel finished second with 137'01.00" (41.78m) and Greeley's distance was 131'05.00" (40.06m). Greeley also took a first place in the javelin with a toss of 126'08.00" (38.62m). Erin Moffet won the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 11:24.40 and the duo of Mary Vonckx and Leah Rygh took second and third in the 1500m run. Carey Ryan continued his strong outdoor season as he set a new meet and school record in the hammer throw with a distance of 226'04.00" (68.98m). In the men's shot put, Frank Guzman bettered his school record with a mark of 57'09.00' (17.60m) to take first place. Chris Birchall and Larry Vonckx swept first and second place in the 5000m run with times of 14:58.4 and 15:13.0, respectively.
Marquette Invitational (April 20) - The DePaul men's and women's track and field teams competed in Milwaukee at the Marquette Invitational on April 20. On the women's side, Diana Runnels won the 400-meter dash and placed second in the 200 meter and was a member of DePaul's second-place 4x100 meter relay team. Both of her solo times were fastest by a DePaul runner this season. Lynsey Psimas also posted a season-best while winning the 5000-meter run in a time of 18:53.73. Katie Sullivan took first in the high jump with a season-best 1.63 meters. Thrower Montia Gardner earned a second-place finish in the discus and a third in the hammer throw. She finished the day with a distance of 43.13 meters in the discus and 46.10 meters in the hammer competition. The men's team had a number of top performances led by Larry Inanga first-place time of 11.04 in the 100-meter dash. Siddqu Muhammad also took first place in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a winning time of 55.34.
Penn Relays (April 26) - At the Penn Relays on April 26, Chris Birchall finished in 17th place in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 30:28.67.
Drake Relays (April 26-28) - Carey Ryan's throw of 68.46m (224'07") was his third-best distance of the outdoor season, but also his third throw long enough to automatically qualify him for the NCAA Championships in June. Other top finishers for DePaul at the Drake Relays included the men's spring medley relay team of Adam Crothers, Larry Inanga, Siddiqu Muhammad and Kai Murray. They finished 12th with a time of 3:25.05.
UIC Open (April 28) - Luis Samayoa and Salvador Andrade earned first-place finishes at the UIC Open in Chicago. Samayoa won the 1500-meter run with a time of 3:56.06 while Andrade was victorious at 22.42 in the 200-meter dash. Other top finishers were Jarrod Jahnke with a second place in the shot put with a distance of 13.41 meters and Larry Vonckx's third-place finish with a time of 8:46.21 in the 3,000-meter run. Katie Sullivan and Erin Moffett were the top women's finishers. Sullivan tied the DePaul high jump record for the second time this season with a jump of 5'4". Moffett's time of 2:25.53 placed her second in the 800-meter run and she was third in the 1,500-meter run at 4:50.49. Dee Moore's 200-meter dash time of 26.25 was good enough for third place.
Central Collegiate Conference Championships (May 5) - A small group of athletes traveled to Kalamazoo, Mich. for the final tune-up before the Conference USA Championships. Trina Knight was the top finisher for the Blue Demons after finishing seventh in the 400-meter hurdles. Larry Inanga placed eighth in the 400-meter dash and Vic Leonhardt was 13th in the discus.