March 28, 2008

OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami University women's track and field squad host the first of two 2008 home meets this weekend when they participate in the 10th annual Southern Ohio Cup on Saturday at the George L. Rider Track complex.

While Miami, Cincinnati, and Ohio are the traditional participants in the event, Xavier, Central State, Dayton, and Northern Illinois will also take part in Saturday's 38-event competition.

Events, starting with the shot put and high jump, begin at 1 p.m., while the last event, the 4X400 relay, concludes the day at 5 p.m.

Admission to the meet is $5 for adults, $3 for youth (18-years and under), and children (2-years and under) are free.

The RedHawks return to competition in the Midwest after a spring training trip to South Carolina, where they competed at the Shamrock Invitational, hosted by Coastal Carolina on March 20-22.

In the sprints, sophomore Margarita Pogorelov will be among the fastest Saturday's 100 and 200 meters. The Bat Yam, Israel native is the Israeli national record holder in the indoor 60-meter dash and finished first and second in the indoor 60-meters and 200-meters, respectively, at the MAC Indoor Championships in March. She has personal bests of 11.99 in the 100-meter dash and 25.02 in the 200-meter dash.

In the 5000 meters, sophomore Laura Neufarth will appear in her first home event after winning the MAC individual title in cross country in October, and winning the 5,000 meters at the MAC Indoor Championships, finishing in 16:52.77.

Kristina Bolterstein enters her senior season as a three-time MAC Indoor Champion and will look to add an outdoor title at season's end. She is the Miami record holder, having cleared 6-1 1/2, which tied the MAC record.

Britney Bernardoni will look to continue a strong start to the 2008 season after finishing fourth at the Shamrock Invitational. Bernardoni has a personal best of 11-5 ¾.

After Saturday's events, the RedHawk will focus their efforts on the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. on April 4-5.