Xavier University Athletics
Musketeers Travel to Pepsi Florida Relays
04.01.15 | Track and Field
Florida Relay Information | Live Stats
CINCINNATI -- Xavier track and field travels to the Pepsi Florida Relays on April 3-4 in Gainesville, Fla. The meet will be held at James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track on the campus of the University of Florida.
"It's an honor and a privilege to be taking a small group of athletes down to the Florida Relays," said head coach Ryan Orner. "This meet, along with the Stanford Invite this weekend, is one of the premier track meets in the country.
"I'm constantly trying to raise the bar with this program and I believe competing against the best in the country is one way to do that. I'm excited to see how our athletes match up against the best in both their open events and our men's 4x800-meter relay."
Madeline Britton, Sarah Mazzei and Audrey Ramos are all entered into the 5,000-meter run. All three athletes are expected to record personal best times in the event that will rank high on the BIG EAST performance list.
In the field events, Mercedes Oliver is slated to participate in the hammer throw. The Cleveland, Ohio, native is coming off a school record-breaking performance in the event last weekend at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational -- her first time participating in the event this season.
Gina Genco will run the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the first time in her Xavier career after winning the 5,000-meter run a week ago at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational.
"Gina is someone that I identified early on as having natural ability for the steeplechase," said Orner. "We've been working on it for several weeks now and she's come a long way in a short period of time."
The men's 4x800-meter relay team is scheduled to be in a preliminary heat featuring some of the fastest times in the country. Connor Buchholz looks to have a breakthrough performance in the 1,500-meter run coming off his school record-setting performance during the indoor season.
After scoring at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last year, Aaron Peterson looks to open his season strong in the event.
Following the Pepsi Florida Relays, the Xavier track and field teams will participate in the All-Ohio Invitational in Oxford, Ohio on April 10-11.
