Blue Demon Men's Track and Field Faces Talented Field

DePaul hits two meets over the weekend, led by Gavin Kennedy at the Iowa State Classic and Webster Jones at the Pepsi Challenge.

CHICAGO - The Blue Demon track squad parted ways this past weekend in order to compete in both the 14^th Annual Iowa State Classic and the Carthage College Pepsi Challenge. The Iowa State Classic, one of the toughest indoor track meets in the nation, took place on February 11^th and 12^th, in Ames, Iowa, while the Pepsi Challenge was held in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on February 12^th.

The Iowa State Classic was a meet which did not feature team scoring, but national champions, All-Americans, Olympic qualifiers and conference champions were among those who competed in a field of over 1,000 athletes. This meet proved to be great competition and preparation in battling against the best.

Gavin Kennedy, Jeff Perkins, and Larry Inanga led the way for the Blue Demons, all placing among the top twenty in their respective events. Kennedy stayed up front, finishing the mile run in 4:09.57, good for a 14^th place finish. Perkins tallied a sixteenth place finish in the 600 meter run, finishing in 1:14.56. Sprinting his way to the 20^th spot in the 400 meter dash, Inanga crossed the line in 48.21.

The Blue Demon group contending in the Pepsi Challenge finished the day in ninth place, led by Webster Jones in the high jump. Jones marked a distance of 1.80 meters (5’10.75”) to hold on to the fourth place spot.

Jones was not the only success out on the field, fellow teammate, Rob Reed, recorded a 13.51 meter (44’04.00”) toss in the weight throw for a ninth place finish. On the track, both Clayton Smith and Mark Kliethermes grabbed tenth place spots for the day. Smith worked a 4:35.29 finish in the mile run, while Kliethermes clocked a 23.85 time in the 200 meter dash.

The squad will once again reunite next weekend at the Men’s Chicagoland Championship that will take place on Saturday, February 19^th, in Romeoville, Illinois.

DePaul University