DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Travels to Oliver Nikoloff Invitational on Friday
3/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | TRACK AND FIELD
March 29, 2012
CINCINNATI, Ohio - After a successful opening weekend of the outdoor season, the DePaul track and field teams return to competition this weekend at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational hosted by the University of Cincinnati. DePaul is set to compete on both Friday and Saturday.
Friday's competition opens with the javelin throw for a DePaul--an event that the Blue Demon women dominated last week. At the FSU Relays last Saturday, DePaul senior Melissa Fraser took home first with a mammoth throw of 54.04 meters which currently stands as the best distance in the nation. Behind Fraser, fellow senior Alanna Kovacs placed second as the only other competitor to surpass the 50-meter mark when she threw for 51.75 meters.
On Saturday, the invitational's field events kick off with the women's hammer throw at 8 a.m. (CST). Last weekend, Fraser also put up a solid performance in that event as she placed fourth. After the women's throw, the men take their turn at the hammer throw before the high jump, discus, shot put, and long jump events go off.
On the track side, the running events open with the 3,000-meter steeplechase, an event won last week by DePaul's Matthew Graham. Following the steeplechase are the women's 5,000-meter, and the men's and women's 4x100-meter relay events. The remainder of the sprints, distance runs, and hurdles events follow thereafter with the men's and women's 4x400-meter relays capping off the two-day invitational.
While host Cincinnati and rival Marquette are the Blue Demons' lone BIG EAST Conference foes at the meet, DePaul will also go up against competitors from Ashland, Bellarmine, Dayton, Findlay, Kent State, Miami, Northern Kentucky, Tiffin, Wright State, and Xavier.
