March 5, 2004

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Four members of the Santa Clara University men's distance squad will compete in their first meet of the spring track season Saturday at Hornet Open at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif., the host site of the 2004 U. S. Olympic Track & Field Trials.

Senior Ricky Brackett is entered in the 1500-meters, while underclassmen Chris Doerhoff, John Paul Thyken, and Omar Ahmad will compete in the 3000-meters.

"This meet will provide a good test to see where the lads are at very early in our training," said head coach John Maloney. "We have some bad luck with illnesses and injuries, but we hope to overcome that with a solid month of training in March for our meets in April and May."

Illness and injury have limited the health of the squad. John Hinman has with a severe case of poison oak, while Brian Lorentz suffered an ankle injury on a training run. Dan Bettencourt will be out for the season after a successful surgery for his compartment syndrome on both legs. Michael Neumann, Nick Arcelona, and Taylor Graham are out or recovering from illness.