Spartans Run With State's Best at Florida Collegiate Invitational

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's and women's track teams competed against NCAA Division II opponents from across the state at the Florida Collegiate Invitational, which was hosted by Embry-Riddle.

Tampa's women finished second overall with 100 points as Embry-Riddle won with 277 points. In men's action, Embry-Riddle registered 267 points,  followed by Saint Leo (84), Florida Tech (83) and Tampa (32).

The UT women began with the 4x800 Meter Relay, which resulted in a first-place finish. Chantalle Blundell, Claudia Cancello, Elaina Cancello and Caitlin Whetstone were timed at 9:48.32. The Spartan women were second in the 4x400 Meter Relay, as Faith Taylor, Sara Balzer, Kristin Steede and Taylor Morrison finished in 4:20.86.

Thea Ramsey was third in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase (12:52.23) as Taylor was sixth in the 100 Meter Dash (12.56).

Bailey Truesdale ran in a pair of hurdles races, placing fourth in the 100 Meter Hurdles (16.84) and fifth in the 400 Meter Hurdles (1:11.60).

In the 1,500 Meter Run, Blundell led the way as the senior was third at 4:43.42. Also running for the Spartans were C. Cancello (fourth, 4:45.75), Kayla Sullivan (sixth, 4:54.41) and Rachel Higgins (eighth, 4:58.95).

The 400 Meter Dash included three UT runners as Steede was third (1:01.71) Balzer fourth (1:02.46) and Morrison fifth (1:08.08).

Whetstone was second in the 800 Meter Run Whetstone at 2:22.73, as Higgins was fourth (2:25.38), Lena Fischer fifth (2:33.47) and Natalie Cortes eighth (2:34.94).

The 200 Meter Dash included Taylor (fourth, 25.85) Steede (eighth, 26:49) and Morrison (11th, 27.27).

Graduate student Juli Boehm paced UT in the women's 5,000 Meter Run, as she was fourth with a time of 18:34.85. A total of three Spartans finished in the top-10 as E.Cancello was sixth (19:12.14) and Aimee Epps was seventh (19:34.22).

In men's action, the 1,500 Meter Run saw UT's Eddie Keenan come in 12th at 4:18.33. The 800 Meter Run included Scott Billings (sixth, 2:00.34) and Keenan (14th, 2:06.42). In the 200 Meter Dash, Vincent Thela was eighth at 23.23.

In the 400 Meter Hurdles, Kristinn McNair was second (59.04) while Larenz Harris was fourth (1:02.43).

The 5,000 Meter Run included three UT runners in the top-10, led by Tyler Blackburn's fourth-place effort of 15:40.67. Joseph Weber (seventh, 15:50.99) and Mitch Arnmold (ninth, 16:02.80) joined Blackburn in the top-10.

The 4x400 Meter Relay was second as Billings, Harris, Thela and Keenan notched a time of 3:31.45.

Tampa will be back in action on April 22-23 when it sends runners to the Georgia Tech Invite. The race will mark the final event of the 2016 season.

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