February 5, 2007
By: Ben Hershberger, sports information intern
ANDERSON, Indiana - The Bluffton University indoor track and field team competed in the Anderson University Invitational on Saturday, February 3, 2007. Host Anderson looked very strong as the Ravens ran away with both the men's and the women's overall top honors out of eight teams. The Beavers were very competitive in their events with the women's team finishing in 5th place while the men's team finished in 7th place overall.
Senior SHANDON NORTH (Galion/Galion) and freshman JASON FISHER(Rockford/Parkway) paced the men's squad by again putting on strong performances in their respective events. Fisher placed 2nd in the men's shot put by thrusting a 13.71 meter (44-11.75) throw, and then he went on to place 8th in the weight throw with a toss of 12.21 meters (40-00.75). North contined to show prominence in the 400 meter dash, placing 2nd with a time of 51.17 seconds. He also led the men's 4x400 relay team to a 3rd place finish with a time of 3:36.94. His teammates on the 4x400 team included junior TYLER FAIRCHILD(Toledo/Whitmer), senior JOHNNY ICHRIST (Toledo/Whitmer) and freshman COLLIN WAGNER (Pettisville/Pettisville).
Fairchild went on to place 4th in 800 meter run with a time of 2:07.71. Also placing in the top 10 of the 800 meters were teammates Ichrist (9th place, 2:11.20) and Wagner (10th place, 2:12.55). Junior MIKE KOCH (Liberty Center/Liberty Center) also ran a strong race for the Beavers, placing 7th in the 1000 meter run with a time of 3:03.32.
For the women, ASHLEY SMITH (Delta/Delta) led the way with two 2nd place finishes in the sprinting events. Smith ran a 28.84 for second in the 200 meter dash, and posted a 1:03.67 sprint in the 400 meter dash, both of which were less than one second off the respective leaders. Also running well for the women's squad in the sprint events was freshman SARAH BINKEY (Bluffton/Cory-Rawson) who placed fifth in the 55 meter dash with a sprint of 8.18 seconds.
Sophomore KARYN DAVIS (Liberty Center/Liberty Center) posted two more top ten finishes for the Beavers in field events as she placed 5th in the shot put (10.49m, 34-05) and 10th in the weight throw (9.04m, 29-08).
Junior BREE FETTERMAN (North Royalton/Padua Franciscan) rounded out the top 10 finishers for the women, placing 6th in the 5000 meter run with a time of 22:25.48.
The Bluffton track and field team will travel to Ada, Ohio, for the Ohio Northern Series Meet on Friday, February 9, 2007. The meet is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
-BEAVERS-