Daniel Marshall (Photo credit: John deDios)
Shevell Quinley (Photo credit: John deDios)
The University of Arizona track and field team will host its biggest home meet of the year on Saturday – an event that head coach Fred Harvey likened to a three-ring circus.
"Once that bell rings, it doesn't stop," Harvey said of the 2008 Jim Click Shootout, now in it's 12th year. "It's like a three-ring circus – there's something going all the time."
Shootout is a unique event because, unlike traditional meets where men's and women's teams compete separately, men's and women's scores will be combined for an overall team score.
"It's exciting to compete as a total team," said Shevell Quinley, a member of the women's track and field team, about the meet's format. "It keeps the athletes excited."
The Wildcats will face Georgia, Nebraska and Arizona State in the Shootout. All four teams are ranked in the top 15 in the nation, which should be enough to keep any track fan excited, said Harvey.
Because of the way the meet is set up and because the UA will face the same teams it met during the indoor championships last month, the competition will be intense, Quinley said.
Also adding to the intensity will be the batting against in-state rival Arizona State.
"They're talking trash, we're talking trash," said long-, triple- and high-jumper Daniel Marshall, with a smile, about the UA/ASU rivalry.
In their last outing, UA throwers competed at the Arizona International while the distance team competed at the ASU Invite. Nicole Lloyd won both the hammer and discus throws for the women. Zack Lloyd finished second in the hammer throw to Canadian national record-holder James Stacey. Lloyd also finished third in the discus with a throw of 53.58 m.
The men's and women's teams will compete in the Pacific-10 Conference Championship next month, followed by the Regional Championship and finally the NCAA Championship in June.
Several Wildcats have qualified for the Regional Championship, including, for the men, Daniel Marshall, triple jump; Shawn Best, shot put; Zack Lloyd, shot put and discus; Korion Morris, shot put and discus; and Luke Bryant, discus. Women qualifiers include Quinley, 100-m hurdles; Megan Howard, hammer and shot put; Nicole Lloyd, discus; and the 4x400-m relay team of Deanna Sullivan, Echos Blevins, Quinley and Ashley Gadson.
The Shootout begins Saturday at 10 a.m. at Roy P. Drachman Stadium.