June 9, 2008

OXFORD, Ohio - Miami University junior Kevin Dwyer has been added to the field for the decathlon at the NCAA Track and Field Championships on the campus of Drake University this week.

Due to several late-season injuries to previous qualifiers for the 10-event championship, Dwyer will leave immediately for Des Moines, Iowa, where he will be ranked 26th coming into Wednesday's opening day of competition. Five events will take place on Wednesday, beginning at 10 a.m., while the final five events will get underway on 10:45 a.m. on Thursday.

Dwyer enters the national championship with a personal-best of 7240 points, set at the Clemson Relays on March 20 and 21. That point total is the third-best in Miami track and field history. Dwyer later won the decathlon at the 2008 MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Bowling Green with 6706 points.

The native of Arlington Heights, Ill. also finished second in the javelin at the MAC Championships with a throw of 207-11 and, in his most recent competition, finished 19th at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in the javelin with a mark of 188-6. He ranks third on Miami's all-time performance list in the javelin.

Wednesday's events include, in order of schedule, the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash. Thursday's events start with the 110-meter hurdles before the discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run close out the competition.

Dwyer joins fellow RedHawk Pat Sovacool. Sovacool, a junior from Lakewood, will compete in the 5,000-meter run with the prelims scheduled for 8:50 p.m. on Wednesday and the finals slated for 9:15 p.m. on Friday.