Track & field has best finish ever in Big East

The DePaul track team competed in the Big East Outdoor Track and Field Championship last weekend in Cincinnati. Overall, the men's team scored 37 points and finished 10th overall, a school best. The women's final tally was 36 points, 11th overall.


Brad Millar stole the weekend for DePaul's men by winning the hammer throw by more than five meters.


But the closest competition of the weekend, the women's javelin throw, came down to the last throw, pitting junior Melissa Fraser against teammate and fellow Canadian sophomore Alanna Kovacs. Fraser held the lead for the first four rounds with a distance of 46.80m, when Kovacs threw a 46.96m.


Fraser could not pass her teammate on her fifth attempt, but on her final throw she threw 47.83m, for the win.


"I knew what I needed to throw, and I just threw it," Fraser said. "We're really good friends outside of track, but in competition we're competitors. We're going to cheer for each other, but at the end of the day we're going for our best performance, personally."


Fraser also finished fourth in the hammer throw, bringing her total to 15 points for the competition.


Kovacs finished fifth in the discus in addition to her second place javelin finish, giving her a total of 12 points.


"As long as one of us won [the javelin], I would have been happy. We were just trying to get as many points for the team as possible," Kovacs said. "Obviously, I would have liked to have won, and be called Big East champion instead of finalist, but she's one of my really good friends so I'm happy,"


Mary Cate Quiett finished fourth in the 800m dash, and helped the 4 x 400m relay team to a fifth place finish. Quiett holds nine DePaul University records, the most in DePaul track and field history.


"The only part I would say I'm disappointed about is getting beat at the finish line [by the third place finisher, Christine Whalen of Georgetown]," Quiett said. "But I learned a lot about racing strategy from the race, and now I'm focused on nationals."


Sophomore Tim Nedow tied for third place in the shot put, but due to Big East tiebreaking rules, was awarded fourth place. Nedow also finished sixth in the discuss throw.


Sophomore Matthew Graham finished third in the 3000m steeplechase to start off the three day event.


Another sophomore, Tonderai Tomu, of Zimbabwai via England, finished fourth overall in the 400m dash. Tomu joined the team in January.


Joe Strowder finished fourth in the long jump with a distance of 7.43m. He then finished seventh in the triple jump, just 0.1 meters behind the sixth place jumper.


Freshman Lindsey Holden finished ninth overall in the 400m dash, with her best outdoor time of the season, a 55.47.


The Blue Demons will play host to the DePaul Relays at Lane Stadium May 11.