April 19, 2012
CHICAGO - The UIC men's and women's track & field teams will compete in the third meet of the outdoor season at the DePaul Invitational this weekend (April 20-21) in Lincoln Park.
"I always enjoy competing against the Chicago area schools so with DePaul, Chicago State, and Northwestern in the field, we will have an exciting meet," said head coach Jim Knoedel. "We match-up well with the Blue Demons so there should be some great times. Kellie Schuh and Justin Higginbotham should both enjoy great meets in the field events, and Sam Kehoe and the trio of Jaime Johnson, Rebecca Zaiter and Tess Ehrhardt should fare well on the track."
Last Saturday both the men's and women's teams competed at the Eagle Invitational in Lisle, Ill. The men took top honors, finishing first in a field of 21 teams, while the women took second.
On the men's side, Justin Higginbotham recorded a personal record in the triple jump with a Horizon League-best mark of 15.21 meters, claiming first-place. Other notable finishes for the men included a first-place finish by Sam Kehoe, who ran the 5,000-meter run in a time of 14:53.86, and Nate Kamm, who finished first in the high jump with a jump of 4.70 meters.
The women had two first-place finishes, the first from Tess Ehrhardt, who captured the 3,000-meter steeplechase finishing with a time of 11:23.92, and the second from Ariel Kirby, who finished the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.11.
In addition to the success at the Eagle Invitational, middle distance runner Matt Zaluckyj was named the Horizon League Male Runner of the Week. Zaluckyj finished second in the 800-meter run at the Eagle Invitational, and broke the outdoor school record with a time of 1:49.51. It marked the first time in his career that Zaluckyj broke the 1:50 plateau, and represents the top time in the Horizon League this season.
The UIC men's and women's teams hold several Horizon League top scores this season, including Kellie Schuh, who holds the top place in the pole vault with a score of 3.75 meters. Josh Stanner ran the third best time in the Horizon League this season (21.76) in the 200-meter run at the Eagle invitational, and also holds fifth best mark in the 400-meter with a time of 49.25.
Ariel Kirby holds the Horizon League season record in the 400- meter run with a time of 56.46 seconds, and the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.73. Both Kirby and Zaluckyj have been invited to compete in the prestigious Musco Twilight Meet on the Iowa University Campus this Saturday.
"We're going to see strong competition in Iowa City but I know Ariel and Matt are ready to produce good times," Knoedel said. "I expect Ariel to dip under 2:10 and go after Monieka Thompson's School Record of 2:09.78. Matt will be facing numerous All-Americans so he'll have his work cut out for him."
