DePaul University Athletics
Men's Track Finishes Sixth at C-USA Championships
5/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | TRACK AND FIELD
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Led by throwers Frank Guzman and Carey Ryan, the DePaul men’s track and field team earned their best finish since 1997 at the Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Blue Demons placed sixth out of 12 league programs with 56 team points. The 1997 squad tied for fifth with a team total of 71 points.
Guzman won the shot put competition with a throw of 18.07 meters (59’3.5”) while Ryan defended his hammer throw title with a championship-record toss of 64.81 meters (212’7”). The three-time hammer throw champion broke his own record of 64.58 meters at last year’s meet. Guzman also placed sixth in the discus with a distance of 46.14 meters (151’4”).
Chris Birchall placed second in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter races to lead the runners. He opened the meet with a time of 30:54.68 on Thursday night as Herbert Mwangi of TCU won the 10,000-meter run in 29:43.67. Birchall came back to finish second in the 5,000 with a time of 14:42.59. Mwangi also won that event in 14:38.79.
Jarrod Jahnke also scored team points for the Blue Demons as he placed fifth in the hammer throw and eighth in the shot put. His distance of 52.35 meters (171'9") in the hammer was just short of Josh Brannen of Louisville at 52.52 meters (172'4"). In the shot put, Jahnke threw 14.44 meters (47’4.5”) to place eighth in the competition.
In the 400-meter hurdles, Siddiqu Muhammad placed fifth while Aaron Cherrington was seventh. Muhammad finished in 53.72 after running a 53.87 in the prelims while Cherrington was at 54.99 in the finals after a prelim time of 53.16. Andrew Carruthers won the event with a time of 51.35.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Larry Inanga, Aaron Cherrington, Siddiqu Muhammad and Salvador Andrade placed fifth with a season-best time of 3:14.60, and Will Lazicki was seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.51. Lazicki qualified for the finals with a prelim time of 1:53.83.
2002 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Final Team Standings
1. TCU – 132.5 points
2. Cincinnati - 123
3. Houston – 97.5
4. Charlotte - 79
5. East Carolina - 65
6. DePaul - 56
7. Memphis - 52
8. South Florida - 48
9. Tulane - 47
10. Louisville – 43.5
11. Southern Miss – 42.5
12. Marquette - 33
For complete individual results, click here.