By: Jenia Freewalt, sports information assistant
Photos by: Zach Slone, sports information assistant

ADA, Ohio- On Friday, Jan. 20, the Bluffton indoor track and field season kicked off at Ohio Northern University with the Larry Cole Invitational. The Beavers started off the year with many PR's and overall had a great performance!

The meet began with field events starting at 5 p.m. and the running events fired off at 6 p.m. Setting a tone for a great day, the Bluffton field athletes had some outstanding performances! In the women's weight throw competition, junior Maggie Hartzler (Rittman/Norwayne) set a new personal record of 11.92, placing 10th. Setting a collegiate PR in her first indoor meet at Bluffton was freshman Paige Smith (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) with a throw of 7.28m.

In the men's weight throw competition, senior Henry Wright (Wooster) had a great throw, setting a new PR of 13.12 while placing 8th. Also having an amazing throw was senior Michael Lindhorst (Lindsey/Woodmore), narrowly missing his PR by .1 meters with a throw of 13.44m, earning a spot in 7th place.

There were a lot of great marks made in both the men's and women's shot put competitions! Freshman Paige Smith set a collegiate PR with an astounding throw of 9.96, placing 8th overall at the meet. This throw has her currently ranked as 9th in the conference! Following Smith was her teammate Ayanna Mackey (Dayton/Northridge) who set a PR with a throw of 9.90, placing 9th at ONU. Also making big moves, Hartzler set a new PR with an incredible throw of 9.64m.

In the men's shot put, junior Markus Finley (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) set a PR with a big throw of 13.82, landing him a spot in 5th place at the meet, and currently ranking him as 6th in the conference! Wright had a great throw as well, setting a PR of 12.04m. With this throw, Wright placed 10th at the meet and is now ranked 11th in the HCAC! Sophomore Qiyone Nelson (Harper Woods, Mich./Harper Woods) threw for the first time collegiately, earning a PR of 10.7m. Freshman Elias Webster also set a collegiate PR with a throw of 7.96m.

Assistant Coach Stephanie Fox, who works with the throwers, was very proud of all the performances. "I am really proud of the throws!" Fox explained, "Almost every single thrower PR'd in one or both events. This makes me excited for future meets because they know they can throw farther! I think the feeling was best captured by one of the throwers who said, 'A thrower is never satisfied.' They are definitely hungry for more PRs."

Going on the same time as the throws events was the high jump. In the men's competition, sophomore Kyle Manns (Ottoville) set a new PR at the first meet of the season with a big jump of 1.92m, placing 3rd overall! Freshman Paige Massie (Alvada/Arcadia) also set a first time collegiate PR of 1.49m, earning her a spot in 7th place. Sophomore Olivia Rider (Celina) placed 9th overall with a jump of 1.44m.

At 6 p.m., the starting gun sounded to signal the start of the first running event of the day! In the men's 60 meter dash, junior Blayden McCoy (Fresno/Ridgewood) set a new PR, flying across the line with a time of 7.30 while placing 6th overall!

In the men's 400 meters, sophomore Russell Lough (Wintersville/Indian Creek) set a new indoor PR of 51.50, placing 3rd. Following Lough in 5th place was sophomore Jayden McConnell (Sunbury/Big Walnut), with a time of 53.17. Also setting a new PR was sophomore Simon Shawk (Galion), flying across the line and earning a time of 53.32 and placing 7th. McCoy finished in 8th place with a time of 53.58.  

In the men's 800 meter race, freshman Jarrod Roudebush (Coshocton) took 9th with a time of 2:13.85 and he set a new collegiate PR. Following his teammate, senior Morgan Adams (Dublin/Coffman) finished a great race in 10th place with a time of 2:14.52. Setting a new PR in the 800 meters was sophomore Aiden Brien (Springfield/Kenton Ridge), good for 11th place with a time of 2:29.84.

The majority of the distance athletes kicked off the season with the 1600 meter race. Sophomore Basil Gates (Galion) booked it across the line with a time of 6:04 and placed 6th overall, setting a first-time collegiate PR! Finishing in 8th place was junior Jenia Freewalt (Delphos/St. John's) with a time of 6:13. Also setting a PR in the mile was sophomore Olivia Daugherty (Bradford) with a time of 6:14 for 9th place. Setting a collegiate PR as well with a great race was junior Miranda Billmann (Castalia/Margaretta), finishing with a time of 6:47.

In the men's 1600 meter race, sophomore Cole Kropka (New London) set a collegiate PR with a quick time of 4:57. Also setting a new PR was junior Alex Montross (Perrysburg) with a great time of 5:01. Finishing just behind his teammate, sophomore Braeden Horn (Galion) had a great race, setting a PR of 5:07.

Head Coach Ben Markison was pleased with the performance of all of the athletes, saying, "I think this was a very solid kick-off meet. We saw a lot of PRs across the groups this weekend, which is a testament to the work that they put in the fall."

Assistant Coach Connor Gulick primarily works with the distance athletes and he commented on their performance by saying, "As a distance group I was really happy to see them get back into the racing mindset. We had a lot of near PRs this week to kick off the year. I'm excited to see where we can go from here as we progress through the year."

After a great competition, the Beavers are ready to compete again at Wittenburg next Saturday, Jan. 28, and are excited to see how their training falls into play on a 300-meter track!

-BEAVERS-