Track Places Second at Early Bird Relays :: Ashley Ritchey Breaks School Record in 5,000m Run

	Senior Ashley Ritchey Has Qualified to Compete in the Stanford Invitational on March 31

March 19, 2007

Early Bird Relays Results
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Cincinnati, OH-The 'Dons earned a second place finish at the Early Bird Relays this weekend. IPFW scored 122.50 points in the meet, falling to the University of Cincinnati who finished with 164. Tiffin rounded out the top three with 103 points.

In the 1,500m run Valerie Hardesty was victorious with a time of 4:52.22. Crystina Martinez finished in second just five seconds behind her at 4:57.23.

The 'Dons had another one-two finish in the steeple chase on the efforts of Mary Ballinger and Hardesty. Ballinger won the event with a personal best time of 11:29.49. Hardesty came in right on her heels at 11:35.98.

Ashley Ritchey reset her own school mark in 5,000m with a time of 17:30.21. Ritchey finished second in the event followed by Crystal Martinez in third with a time of 17:32.48, a personal best.

"The meet was an all around great effort by the sprint, jump, throws, and distance squads," assistant coach Josh Farrell commented. "Each squad did their part to help the team score points and place second overall in a field of seven teams."

The 'Dons will have next weekend off before traveling to West Lafayette, sans senior Ashley Ritchey, to compete in the Mike Poehlein Invitational on Saturday, March 31. Ritchey will be traveling to Stanford, CA that weekend to compete in the Stanford Invitational where she has qualified to compete in the women's 10,000m race.

~Dons~