April 6, 2004

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This Week: The Miami University's women's track & field team returns home to Oxford this weekend to host its only regular season meet of the season. Teams ascend on Miami's George L. Rider track for the annual Miami Invitational on Saturday, April 10.

Last Time Out: The RedHawks won two events, and posted nine other top-10 finishes, last weekend at the Duke Invitational. Senior Andrea Kremer (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) posted a regional-qualifying time to win the 5,000m in 16:35.59, just 0.59 off her personal record. The Red and White were also victorious in the 4x100 relay at the non-scoring meet.

Miami Invitational: Nine teams are set to join the RedHawks at the Miami Invitational, including MAC schools Ball State, Marshall and Ohio. Local rivals Cincinnati and Wright State are set to make the short treks as well. Butler, Cedarville, Purdue and Valparaiso round out the field. Ohio, Cincinnati and Wright State are the only teams that were not in last year's field.

2003 Miami Invitational: Miami took top honors at its home meet in 2003, distancing itself from second-place Ball State by 84 points (253-169). Senior Andrea Kremer won both the 1,500m and 3,000m steeplechase, while the RedHawks set a school record in winning the 4x400 relay leading the Red and White cause. MU posted five other first-place finishes including seniors Lauren Collins (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) and Bernitta Johnson (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./GAR Memorial) in the shot put and triple jump, respectively.

National Rankings: Freshman Lashonda Davis (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) and senior Andrea Kremer are making waves, nationally, ranking in the top 10 in their respective specialty events. Davis' school-record long jump of 20-7 1/2 puts her fourth in the country, and tops in the region. At the Spring Classic, Kremer finished her first 3,000m steeplechase of the season in 10:32.87, a time that sits eighth, while her recent 5,000m victory at the Duke Invitational is just outside the top 10 at 12th.

Regionally, seniors Bernitta Johnson and Lauren Collins have their names among the elite. Johnson is fourth in the region, 21st nationally, in the triple jump, while Collins sits seventh in the region in the hammer throw, which ranks 32nd nationally.

It's Like Deja' Vu All Over Again: During the indoor season, freshman Lashonda Davis made noise by breaking the Miami indoor long jump record on her first collegiate jump. The Kokomo, Ind., native then broke the record three more times during her four indoor events. Facing her first jump of her outdoor career at the Spring Classic (3/27), Davis once again eclipsed a school mark in the long jump, this time by 18 inches (20-7 1/2). For her efforts, she was named this week's MAC Female Athlete of the Week on March 29.

To put her jump in perspective: it ranks as not only the fourth-longest nationally this year, but the fourth-longest in conference history. Aside from holding the indoor long jump record at 19-10, Davis also owns the top 10 indoor jumps in school history.

Home-Track Advantage?: The Mid-American Conference announced the relocation of this year's outdoor conference championship to Miami University. The event was initially awarded to Western Michigan, but delays in construction to the WMU facilities caused the relocation to Miami's George L. Rider Track. The 2004 MAC Outdoor Championships are scheduled for May 13-15. Oxford last hosted the outdoor championships in 2001.

Up Next: The RedHawks travel to Ohio State for the annual All-Ohio Championships, April 16-17, in Columbus, Ohio.