Track and Field Concludes Drake Relays
4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | TRACK AND FIELD
DES MOINES, Iowa Brad Millar took 14th place in the men’s hammer throw on Saturday as the DePaul men’s and women’s track and field teams closed out the Drake Relays. The Blue Demon sophomore exceeded the NCAA Regional Championship qualifying standard for the fifth time in as many weeks.
Saturday’s event at Drake Stadium saw Millar cover 60.04m with his third-best throw of the season. He surpassed both the NCAA Regional standard of 55.60m and the BIG EAST Conference Championship qualifying standard of 48.00m. Auburn's Cory Martin topped the field of 26 throwers with a mark of 72.78m.
Millar still holds the best hammer throw performance in the BIG EAST this season with the mark of 61.96m that he posted on April 11 at the Sun Angel Track Classic.
Saturday placed select Blue Demons at the Marquette Twilight Invitational. DePaul battled strong winds to post three BIG EAST qualifying performances at Melvin "Bus" Shimek Memorial Track.
Cynthia Edwards notched her first BIG EAST qualification of the year in the women's triple jump when she placed fifth with a mark of 11.31m. Tamara Burris took third place in the women's hammer throw with a qualifying distance of 51.55m. Burris also grabbed fourth place in the discus throw with a qualifying mark of 41.96m.
On the track, Luke Rygh won the men's 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:48.07.
DePaul travels to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania next weekend for the 2008 BIG EAST Championships. The meet runs Friday, May 2 through Sunday, May 4 at Villanova’s Jumbo Elliott Track.