The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Spire Invitational
Akron Set to Compete at Don Kirby and Spire Invitationals
February 09 | Track & Field
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DON KIRBY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (PDF) | DECLARED ENTRIES (PDF) | LIVE STATS | WEBSTREAM ($)
SPIRE INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS/MEET INFORMATION | LIVE STATS | WEBSTREAM ($)
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron men's and women's track and field teams will compete in a pair of meets this weekend as the Zips will participate this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11, at both the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., and the Spire Division I Track and Field Invitational in Geneva, Ohio.
The two-day Don Kirby Invitational will feature 42 squads, teams scheduled to compete in the men's and women's field include; Akron, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Campbell, Colorado State, Eastern New Mexico, Grand Canyon, Harvard, Long Beach State, Lubbock Christian, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands, New Mexico JC, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Portland State, Rice, San Diego State, San José State, Southern Utah, Stanford, Tulane, UACJ, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC-Colorado Springs, UCLA, UNLV, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, Washington State, West Texas A&M and Wyoming.
The Zips are scheduled to have senior Daniella Johnson (Gahanna, Ohio) in the women's long jump, redshirt sophomore Jordan Latimer (Huber Heights, Ohio) and senior Terrell McClain (Youngstown, Ohio) in the men's long jump, sophomores Curtis Richardson (Blacklick, Ohio) and Cody Stine (Shelby, Ohio) in the men's high jump, sophomore Dajia Mills (Canton, Ohio) in the women's high jump, seniors Weronika Gaudyn (Kracow, Poland) and Ariadna Ramos Gandia (Barcelona, Spain) in the women's triple jump, senior Mike Ohiembor (Dayton, Ohio) in the men's triple jump
Competition gets underway at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 10, with the men's and women's long jump. The meet will conclude for the Zips on Saturday, Feb. 11, starting at 1 p.m. ET with finals of the men's and women's triple jump.
The balance of the Akron squad will participate at the Spire Division I Track and Field Invitational at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, this Friday and Saturday.
The men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon, along with the men's and women's pole vault and weight throw competitions and 12 running events will be contested on Friday beginning at 2 p.m. Field events kick off Saturday's action at 10 a.m. before the men's mile commences action on the track at 10:30 a.m.
Live stats for the Don Kirby Invitational and Spire Division I Track and Field Invitational will be available at GoZips.com.
"New Mexico is an ideal place for our jumpers with raised springy runways and high altitude," Akron head coach Dennis Mitchell commented. "With good competition there, this will give them an excellent opportunity to move them up on the national performances lists."
"Spire will have a lot of good teams there. It is the biggest oversized track in the country, which will give us a chance to run faster. The field events will be good there as well. It will be our last big numbers invite meet until MAC's."
Akron men's and women's squads are also ranked 11th and 13th, respectively, in the latest women's and men's collegiate dual meet rankings of 2017, as compiled by Jesse Squire for Track and Field News.
The Zips have 15 men and four women ranked among the top-50 nationally in their respective events in the latest Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) ratings released this week.
Freshman Lucy Bryan (Bristol, England) leads Akron's efforts owning the fifth-best mark (14-1.25) in the women pole vault, while McClain maintains the sixth-best leap in the country in the men's long jump (25-7.25).
Other top-50 performances include; junior Jackie Siefring (Covington, Ohio) – 5th in the pentathlon (4,204) and 47th in the women's long jump (19-8.25); sophomore Matt Ludwig (Chardon, Ohio) – 7th in the men's pole vault (18-0.50); senior Nikki Manson (Glasgow, Scotland) – 11th in the women's high jump (6-0.50); Richardson – 19th in the men's high jump (7-1); Stine – 19th in the men's high jump (7-1); Ohiembor – 21st in the men's triple jump (51-5.50); senior Matt Rowland (Bellevue, Ohio) – 24th in the men's pole vault (17-6.25); Latimer – 25th in men's long jump (24-10.50); senior Miles Baldwin (Cincinnati, Ohio) – 26th in the 400 meters (47.14); Ramos Gandia – 31st in the women's triple jump (41-7.25); redshirt junior Rebecca Pietsch (Dusseldorf, Germany) – 33rd in women's pole vault (13-3.50); Johnson – 38th in the women's long jump (19-11.50); and Mills – 45th in the women's high jump (5-8.75).
The Zips' men's squad recorded 25 top-five performances on the final day of the Akron Invitational on Feb. 4, including six victories on the day, while the women's team garnered 13 top-five efforts and four wins.
Ludwig capped the performances for the Zips on the afternoon winning the men's pole vault with a career-best clearance of 18-0.50 (5.50m). The mark represented the seventh-highest jump in the country this season. Also eclipsing a personal-best mark of 17-6.25 (5.34m) to finish second with the No. 24 jump nationally was Rowland.
Richardson took first place in the men's gold division high jump surpassing 6-11.25 (2.12m), while Latimer notched the win in the men's long jump posting a mark of 24-10.25 (7.58m), the 25th-best jump nationally this season.
Ohiembor registered a season-best mark of 51-5.50 (15.68m) to earn the victory in the men's triple jump. The effort represented the 21st-longest jump in the country in 2017.
In the women's pole vault, Bryan finished second with a new personal-best mark of 14-2.25 (4.33m). Her effort resulted in the third-best jump in program history and the No. 5 mark nationally this season.
Junior Kwadarrius Smith (Orlando, Fla.) tied his personal best time in the 60 meters, fourth-fastest time in indoor program history, taking second with a time of 6.75.
Baldwin placed second for the Zips in the men's 400 meters with a time of 47.14, the No. 26 time nationally.
A day earlier, Siefring registered the fourth-best score in the country in 2017 en route to winning the pentathlon with a five-event cumulative total of 4,204.
Players Mentioned
