Feb. 23, 2002

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio--Miami University's women's track and field team got off to a rough start Friday at the Mid-American Conference Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships, placing ninth out of 12 teams following the first day of competition.

The RedHawks, who totaled nine points during the first day, scored in three events. A fifth-place finish by the Miami distance medley team marked the highest RedHawk finish on the day. Miami ran a time of 12:00.32 in the event, earning four team points.

Miami's highest individual finish was picked up by Catie Hollinger (Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green), who finished sixth in the pentathlon with 3,515 points and added three points to the RedHawk effort. Sophomore Lauren Collins (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) finished seventh in the weight throw with a toss of 54-feet-6 inches to round out Miami's scoring.

Other highlights included freshman Tabitha Schwartz (Appomatox, Va./Appomatox) breaking her own record in the pole vault with a vault of 11-1.75, and RedHawks Erin Connolly (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and Jennifer Caldwell (Sabina, Ohio/East Clinton) both qualifying for the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. Schwartz finished 10th in the pole vault, while Connolly and Caldwell qualifed fifth and seventh, respectively.

Competition concludes Saturday with Miami aiming to improve on its current position and best its seventh-place finish from a season ago.