The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Raleigh Relays
Akron Opens Outdoor Campaign Visiting North Carolina and Texas for Pair of Meets
March 23 | Track & Field
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RALEIGH RELAYS - SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (PDF) | LIVE STATS | ACCEPTED ENTRIES (PDF) | FRIDAY VIDEO | SATURDAY VIDEO
ROADRUNNERS INVITATIONAL - SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (PDF) | LIVE STATS | ACCEPTED ENTRIES (PDF)
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron track and field team begins its spring campaign this Friday and Saturday, March 24-25, competing in a pair of weekend meets.
The Zips' distance contingent will travel to Raleigh, N.C., to partake in the Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State in Raleigh N.C., while the balance of the squad will visit San Antonio, Texas, to compete at the Roadrunners Invitational hosted by University of Texas at San Antonio.
"This will be a great weekend and week ahead for us," Akron head track and field coach Dennis Mitchell commented. "The meets this weekend will provide us both excellent competition opportunities and a chance to get adjusted to the outdoor season. We will be going against the best as Texas A&M, the NCAA Indoor Men's Champions will be there at UTSA."
"This next week also gives us a chance to train in more opportunistic weather as we get ready for the Texas Relays. We are hoping with good weather, great competition and good winds to have many Zips earn qualifying marks for the NCAA First Round."
The seven-team field at the Roadrunners Invitational includes: Akron, Baylor, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, VCU and the host Roadrunners of UTSA.
The men's decathlon and women's heptathlon will be contested on Thursday, March 23, before field events kick off with the women's hammer (men to follow) and men's shot put (women to follow) on Friday, March 24, at 2 p.m. ET. The men's pole vault commence final-day competition on Saturday, March 25, at 12 p.m. ET, before running events gets underway with the men's and women's steeplechase at 3 p.m. ET.
More than 100 schools and 2,200 athletes are scheduled to compete at the Raleigh Relays, including; senior Zach Alexander (Tiffin, Ohio), redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Andrews (Toowoomba, Australia), freshman Iman Batiste (Dublin, Ohio), senior Alexandra Blair (Akron, Ohio), freshman Matt Blamble (Wadsworth, Ohio), redshirt freshman Tevin Brown (Toledo, Ohio), sophomore Morgan Buckley (Warren, Ohio), junior Garrett Crichlow (Twinsburg, Ohio), redshirt sophomore Adam Downing (Sylvania, Ohio), freshman Marcques Gibbs (Darby, Pa.), sophomore Cynthia Haas (Tallmadge, Ohio), sophomore Joe Harrington (Youngstown, Ohio), freshman Haley Hess (Curtice, Ohio), freshman Elijah Johnson (Fremont, Ohio), redshirt junior Sarah Kupniewski (Erie, Pa.), redshirt sophomore Elizabeth Mosier (Austintown, Ohio), senior Sean Poholski (Barberton, Ohio), redshirt junior Tara Snipes (Covington, Ohio), sophomore Sydney Stokes (Gahanna, Ohio), freshman Nick Stricklen (Lexington, Ohio), freshman Alyssa Thomas (Uniontown, Ohio), redshirt sophomore Nick Winkler (Wadsworth, Ohio) and senior Dan Zupan (Berea, Ohio).
Competition gets underway at 9:45 a.m. on Friday, March 24, with the women's 5,000-meter run. The meet will conclude on Saturday, March 25, starting at 11 a.m. with the men's 4x1,500-meter relay.
The Akron men's track and field squad is ranked 32nd in the latest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings released on Monday, March 20.
Live stats for both the Raleigh Relays and Roadrunners Invitational can be found on GoZips.com.
Players Mentioned
