June 22, 2011

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Freshmen Isaiah Miller (Middletown, N.Y.) and Nick Hughes (Stony Point, N.Y.) of the Marist men's track and field team are set to represent the school at the USA Junior Championships on Friday June 24 as they take to Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.

In the 10,000-meter race, which is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. (Pacific Time), Miller and Hughes will compete amongst the top 20 national qualifiers, who will not turn twenty years of age during the year of the competition. The only set of teammates in the race, both athletes qualified for the event with their outstanding efforts at the UMass Invitational on April 9 in Amherst, Mass. At the event, Miller finished with a time of 32:44.15, while Hughes finished less than a second behind at 32:45.14.

With their qualifications, the Marist Track and Field program has now sent 18 athletes to the USA Junior Championships since 1998, including 11 in past four years. Director of Track and Field Pete Colaizzo is proud and excited by the strides his program is taking on a national scale, "we are pleased and honored to have both Isaiah and Nick competing at this meet and representing our program once again at the USA Junior Championships. They are continuing a fine tradition of Marist athletes who have represented the team at this meet. The experience of running in a meet of this caliber will be invaluable for these athletes."