May 14, 2004

OXFORD, Ohio - Sophomore Dan Huling (Geneva, Ill./Geneva Community) took second in the 3,000m steeplechase and two cross country teammates qualified among the top five of the 1,500m as Miami University's men's track & field team remained in fourth place following the second day of the 2004 MAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Saturday afternoon in Oxford. Eastern Michigan jumped to the top of the standings with 49 points, as the RedHawks sit 13 points back with 36.

In his third collegiate steeplechase race, Huling shaved four seconds off his previous best time to take second in the event in 8:58.88. Senior Ryan Clark (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton) joined Huling in the event, and later on the award stand, scoring two points with a seventh-place finish. Clark, who also scored at last year's conference meet in the steeplechase, crossed the line in 9:30.47.

In preliminaries for day three finals, MU qualified four runners, including two in the 1,500m. Sophomore Chris Swisher (Milan, Ind./Milan) paced the preliminary field, completing the distance in 3:53.70. Senior Jerry Claunch (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) came in fifth at 3:54.11. Sophomore Eric Bowman (Dayton, Ohio/Dayton Christian) in the 400m hurdles and freshman Chris Corgiat (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) in the 400m also qualified for finals on Saturday. Bowman placed sixth in the hurdles with a time of 54.36 and Corgiat finished the 400m in 46.73 for eighth place.

The RedHawks featured two scorers in two of the four other scored events on the day. In the decathlon, sophomores Kayne Dakoski (Palm Harbor, Fla./Palm Harbor) and Ceith Creekmur (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) finished fourth and eighth, respectively, while senior Will Stanley (Cleveland, Ohio/Trinity) and freshman Jake Dunkleberger (Smyrna, Ga./The Lovett School) each scored in the shot put. Dakoski used a pair of second- and two more third-place finishes on day two to score 6,830 points and take fourth. Creekmur finished the event with 6,188 points for eighth. In the shot put, Stanley finished sixth with a throw of 53-11 3/4 to score three points for the Red and White. Dunkleberger, who won the hammer throw on day one, took eighth with a toos of 52-10 3/4.

Seniors Nick Somerville (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) and Edan Peleg (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) were the only other Miami scorers on day two, taking fourth place in the long jump and eighth in the javelin, respectively. Somerville previously won the long jump in 2001, and leapt 23-10 1/4 for five points today. Peleg scored for the second straight year in the javelin, with a throw that spanned178-6.

EMU entered the day second, but ran past Central Michigan which fell back to a tie for fifth. Akron moved into second place with 42 points, while Kent State jumped to third (38 points). Western Michigan scored 27 points on day two to tie CMU with 28 points. Buffalo (25), Ball State (23) and Ohio (4) round out the meet scoring.

The third and final day of the 2004 MAC Championships gets underway at 10:30 a.m. with the triple jump. Aside from the finals of today's events, Saturday also features the pole vault, relays, discus, high jump and 5,000m.

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