Deacons Set to Compete in UNC Invitational

Freshman Nyki Caldwell turned in a season-best mark of 5-6 in the high jump on Saturday afternoon

1/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field

Jan. 26, 2012

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - After a string of strong performances at the Hokie Invitational last weekend, the Wake Forest track and field teams are set to travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to compete in the UNC Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

The Deacs did not compete in the event last season, and it will mark their first indoor meet at North Carolina since the Dick Taylor Carolina Classic in January 2010. All of this weekend's events will be held inside the Eddie Smith Field House on UNC's campus.

Both the men's and women's teams are coming off excellent performances at Virginia Tech's Hokie Invitational. On the women's side, senior Erin Brooks shattered her own school record in the triple jump event by more than eight inches with a mark of 41-3 (12.57m) to take second place.

In addition to Brooks, the women's team brought home six other top-10 performances in the two-day meet. Both Molly Binder and Caitlin Hartnett entered that category by placing fifth (2:15.35) and seventh (2:15.83), respectively, in the 800m run. Cross country standout Nicole Irving completed the trio of Demon Deacons in the track events, taking ninth place in the 3,000m run with a time of 10:08.41.

In the field events, freshman Nyki Caldwell cleared 5-6 (1.68m) in her signature high jump event to garner a seventh-place finish and senior Sarah Brobeck posted a throw of 39-7.75 (12.08m) in the shot put competition, her primary event, to finish fifth overall. Brooks, despite already grabbing one second-place finish, jumped her way to another in the long jump event, covering a distance of 19-5.5 (5.93m).

The men's team performed strongly as well, earning seven individual top-10 finishes as well as a top-10 finish in the 4x800m relay. The team of Kyle Eager, Nate Guthals, Anthony Marois and Thomas Morrison crossed the line in 7:42.71 to haul in a fourth-place finish overall.

Eager, Guthals and Marois also brought home top individual performances. Eager claimed ninth place in the 800m run with a time of 1:55.51, while Guthals and Marois finished fifth (2:29.15) and 10th (2:31.65), respectively, in the 1,000m run, both of which were new personal-best times for the duo.

Distance runners Paul Loeser, Tom Finneran and Garret Drogosch fared well in their events. Loeser (third, 4:13.89) and Finneran (sixth, 4:15.30) both posted new personal-best times in the one mile run, and Drogosch took eighth overall in the 3,000m run en route to a personal-best time of 8:29.92.

Sophomore Malcolm Nunley posted the lone sprinting top-10 of the meet for the Deacons in the 300m dash, placing ninth overall with a time of 35.48.

The events will kick off on Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. as both the women's weight throw and the preliminary heats of the 60m dash get underway. Live results can be found at http://durhamstriders.com/results/12unc2 once the meet has begun, and a full recap will be posted here on WakeForestSports.com following the conclusion of all events on Friday evening.