Brown Breaks School Record, DePaul Wraps up Two Meet Weekend

CHICAGO – DePaul track and field wrapped up its meet filled weekend, Saturday evening, with the final day of competition at Wisconsin's Windy City Invite and UChicago's Windy City Rumble. Darius Brown was the sole school record breaker of the day, topping his 60m hurdle record for a third time this season.

"It's hard for me to look at today in isolation," said head coach Dave Dopek. "A second consecutive weekend with three school records going down, along with many personal records. This weekend was about sharpening up for conference/nationals. Not just physically and competitively, but also learning how to deal with a large amount of external noise and energy. We don't normally race against many of the teams that were present, so there was a bit of unfamiliarity. There was also a great deal of additional energy being pumped into this meet, by external sources. After considering the meet in totality, I am certain that if we are going to achieve our goals at the Big East conference meet in two weeks, we are going to have to manage our energy better as a team but I have confidence that these teams will be ready when the time comes."

To kick off the final day of competition at the Badgers Windy City Invite, Brown came in hot with a first place finish in the men's 60m hurdles. His final time of 7.68 broke his previous school record of 7.70. The Blue Demon had just topped his previous school record for a second time last weekend. The 7.68 record gives Brown a 10th place finish in the men's 60m hurdles nationally.

"Darius is having an outstanding season. Now that our regular season has come to an end, he can set his sights on the championships, Big East and NCAAs."

Billie Martin earned DePaul's first gold medal in the women's weight throw at UChicago's Windy City Rumble. Martin closed out with a final mark of 19.54m. Her teammate, Kash Allen followed behind with a second place finish and a final mark of 16.62m.

Freshman Amelia Barrington claimed her second top-three finish of the season in the women's high jump after tying her personal best with a mark of 1.60m.

In addition to top-three finishes, the Blue Demons saw four new personal bests today. Michael Ronzone ran a personal best time of 1:52.84 in the men's 800m alongside Lucas Cunningham who also ran a new personal best with a final time of 1:55.07.

In the women's mile, Meghan Dieball shed four seconds off her previous best time after running a final time of 4:47.11.

To round out the day, Kash Allen led the women's shot put, placing first with a final mark of 15.18m. This was her second consecutive meet with a throw over 15 meters. Jessica Beckman followed suit, taking third with a new personal best mark of 13:82m. Noelle Malkamaki earned fourth overall with a final mark of 13:43m.

UP NEXT: The Blue Demons prepare for the BIG EAST Indoor Conference Championships on Feb. 23 and Feb, 24.

Badgers Windy City Invite

Gately Indoor Park (Chicago, Ill.)

Men's 60m Hurdles

1. Darius Brown - 7.68

Women's 200m

16. Maia Mays - 25.13

Men's 200m

7. Dominic Cole - 21.90

14. Charles Lewis - 22.18

Men's 800m

9. Michael Ronzone - 1:52.84