UT Track Opens Season at Embry-Riddle

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's and women's track teams opened their 2016 season at the Embry-Riddle Last Chance Meet, competing in several distance and sprint events.

On the men's side, senior Scott Billings was third in the 1,000 meter race, being clocked at 2:37.83.

A trio of Spartans finished in the top-10 of the 3,000, including Joe Weber (5th, 8:58.87), Mitch Arnold (6th, 8:59.17) and Brendan McGonagle (9th, 9:08.07).

In the 400 meter dash, freshman Kristinn McNair was seventh as he was timed at 52.68.

Senior Chantalle Blundell led the Tampa women, winning the 3,000 meter race in a time of 10:16.22. Aimee Epps (8th, 11:08.10) and Danielle Kissel (10th, 11:22.23) joined Blundell as top-10 performers.

Blundell also won the one-mile run, being timed at 5:13.33. Teammate Rachel Higgins was sixth (5:36.32) as Aimee Epps (5:40.74) and Kayla Sullivan (5:43.53) were eighth and ninth respectively.

Kristin Steede ran to a fourth-place effort in the 400, finishing in 1:01.16.

The women's 4x800 relay race also went to the Spartans, as they edged Edward Waters College with a time of 10:27.36.

Claudia Cancello and her sister, Elaina Cancello, were one-two in the 5,000 with respective times of 18:07.56 and 18:28.32.

A well-rounded performance for Tampa also included a fifth-place effort by Bailey Truesdale in the 60 meter hurdles, earning a time of 11.16.

Four Spartans ran the 800 meter run to a top-10 finish, including Caitlin Whetstone (5th, 2:29.19), Kaelin Willette (7th, 2:33.42), Lena Fischer (8th, 2:36.61) and Natalie Cortes (10th, 2:40.22).

The Spartans return to action on Friday, March 4, as it hosts the Ryan McCall Meet. The race will be hosted by UT at Pepin Stadium.

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