Hopkins excels in Ohio
USF sprinter Derrick Hopkins topped off what was already a banner weekend for the Track & Field program by being named Most Outstanding Male Athlete of the 2011 Big East Indoor Track & Field Championships in Akron, Ohio.
Hopkins posted a personal best time of 6.77 seconds in the 60-meter dash to claim the first of his two individual titles.
Hopkins followed that by winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.30 seconds. He is the first USF athlete to earn Mens Most Outstanding Track Performer.
I dont have words for (being named Most Outstanding), Hopk- ins said. When I heard my name being called, I was in shock. It was something I never expected.
As a team, the men finished fifth in the Big East, the best placing theyve ever recorded. Connecticut won the mens title for the third time in four years.
Led by pole vaulter Denise von Eynatten, the womens team finished sixth overall, also its best finish in program history. Louisville won the womens title.
Von Eynatten claimed the title of Big Easts best pole vaulter with a finals jump of 14 feet and 1.75 inches, a new personal record. Von Eynatten won the event by 7.5 inches over the second-place finisher, Cincinnatis Mackenzie Fields.
Denise had a great day. She came in ranked first and did her job, coach Warren Bye said. Shes now the fifth-best jumper in America and a Big East champion.
As a team, our whole program put in a really great effort the whole weekend, he said. They did a really good job of stepping up and doing what they needed to do.
The Bulls will compete next at the UNF Invitational in Jacksonville on March 4.
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