Preview: Track & Field Ready to Compete at Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational

Friday, February 11

Lynchburg, Va.

All Day

University of North Florida

8th Annual Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational

Ryan Thomas indoor track Liberty preview

Preview: Track & Field Ready to Compete at Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational

2/10/2022 1:00:00 PM | Men's Track, Women's Track

Live Results Meet Schedule

Liberty Will Also Be Host Site For 2022 ASUN Indoor Championships

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The North Florida track and field teams will make the trip up to Liberty to race in the 8th annual Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational from Feb. 11-12 in Lynchburg, Va.

This will be the first time that the Ospreys will be racing at the Darious Dixon Invite in its program history. This will also be UNF's first of two trips to Liberty this indoor season, as it will be the host site for the ASUN Indoor Championships from Feb. 25-26.

LAST TIME OUT

Top Marks at Carolina Challenge

Izabelle Hays placed fifth at her collegiate field debut in the women's high jump with a mark of 1.60m.
Kaley Petrosky matched Hays' mark of 1.60m to finish sixth in the women's high jump.
Tariq Lajoie made his debut for indoor competition in the men's high jump invite with a mark of 1.93m.

Top Times at Carolina Challenge

Nathan Jubran and Aidan O'Gorman crushed their personal-best indoor times in the men's 3k at South Carolina, with Jubran placing second at 8:09.43 and Gorman following right behind in third at 8:12.51.
Raquel Lespasio highlighted the meet for the women with her fourth-place finish in the women's 5k at 18:12.81.
Timothy Doyle turned in a fourth-place finish in the men's mile with a time of 4:11.36, as both Aiden Arnold and Robert Pedroza posted top-20 times as well.
Arnold, as well as Ladarius Tellis, also ran well in the men's 800m in their collegiate indoor debuts with times of 1:53.73 and 1:53.79 respectively to both finish in the top seven.
Mia McLain recorded times of 4:11.36 in the women's mile and 10:23.26 in the women's 3k to finish both races in the top 20.
Ryan Thomas and Celine D'Anna both performed well in the 400m dash with times of 53.08 and 1:03.53 respectively.

NOTABLE OPPONENTS

There will be a total of 24 indoor track and field teams competing in this weekend's invite, highlighted by six ACC teams (Duke, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest). Liberty will be the only other ASUN opponent at the meet.

On the men's side, the Ospreys will be the highest-ranked team in the South region at No. 21. Their biggest competition this weekend will be against Virginia and Virginia Tech, who are ranked nationally for indoor, 14th and 23rd respectively. Liberty, NC State, Charlotte, Campbell, High Point, Furman, and USC Upstate are all teams that are in the top 20 of the Southeast region.

On the women's side, UNF will be racing against two top 10 teams in the nation, No. 8 NC State and No. 10 Virginia Tech. The Ospreys join ETSU as the only teams from the South region in this meet. Top teams from the Southeast region consist of No. 5 Duke, No. 8 North Carolina, 9. Virginia, No. 11 Coastal Carolina, No. 12 Wake Forest, No. 13 Liberty, and No. 14 High Point.

UP NEXT

After the meet at Liberty this weekend, the Ospreys will look to regroup and make the trip back up to Lynchburg in two weeks to compete in the ASUN Indoor Championships from Feb. 25-26.

PIGG'S POINTS

"This is another good opportunity for both teams to race in quality fields at a great meet. They have worked hard and we are excited as we approach the championship part of the indoor season." -- head coach Jeff Pigg