April 9, 2008

KENNESAW, Ga. - This weekend, the Kennesaw State men's track & field team will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., to participate in the Seminole Track Invitational. The one-day event will be held at the Mike Long Track complex and feature a strong field of competition, including Florida A&M and the host Seminoles.

Leading the Black & Gold will be Atlantic Sun Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week, Jerome McKinzie. After claiming his third straight victory last weekend at the Florida Relays, McKinzie is ready to keep his winning streak alive at FSU. Having made the NCAA Regional qualifying height of 6-10.75ft twice this season, the sophomore is now hunting down the seven-foot mark. At Florida State, he will be facing a talented group of jumpers that may force him to set a new personal record to claim victory. The sophomore will also compete in the long and triple jump events.

Representing KSU on the track will be the 4x400m team of Antonio Logan, Joshua James, James Verdi and Gianni Catalano. Thunderstorms caused the premature cancelation of the Florida Relays and prevented the team from running last week. After a good of week of practice, the quartet is now eager to return to competition so that they can improve on their season best time of 3:17.55.

"It's unfortunate that the guys didn't get to race last weekend," said sprint coach Devin West. "They were in a really strong heat and I thought that would make them run at their best. Still, we're going to make up for it at FSU. All four of the guys have had a great week of practice and they're ready for this race."

The Owls distance runners were also affected by bad weather at the Florida Relays. 5k specialists Michael Johnson and Maxwell Ndungu return to competition at FSU in hopes of setting season best times. Also running in distance events will be the team of Nathan Haskins and Steven Murray. The duo will compete in KSU's first 3k race of the outdoor season.

In throwing events, Kennesaw State will be led by sophomore Joshua McNair. McNair has had a successful outdoor season as he has set school records in the hammer throw, discus and shot put. Teammates Eric Gill and Aymerick Kolokilagi have also been consistently finishing in the top ten of every throwing event. At FSU, they will be joined by decathlete Casey Strickland as he competes in the javelin.

"The conference championships are just one month away," said head coach Don McGarey. "We are treating each one of these meets like it's a championship. All of our athletes are giving 100 percent."

The Seminole Track Invite will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and continue throughout the day.