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

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio- On Saturday, Janaury 28, the Bluffton University Track and Field team rolled out and headed to Wittenberg for the 2023 Steemer Showcase. With it being a large meet of nearly 20 teams and plenty of top-notch competition, the Beavers performed well and brought home many new personal bests and top placements.

Kicking off the meet were the field events. The throws team had an incredible showing yet again, with the majority of the squad achieving new personal bests. In the women's weight throw competition, freshman Paige Smith (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) threw a PR of 8.74m. In addition, junior Amanda Scott (Millbury/Lake) had a big throw, earning a PR of 11.72m.

In the men's competition, senior Michael Lindhorst (Lindsey/Woodmore) had an amazing throw, putting him in 10th place and setting a new PR of 13.64. Senior Henry Wright (Wooster) also had a great performance, setting a new PR of 13.59m.

Wittenberg had two throwing pits, so they were able to run the weight throw and the shot put competitions at the same time. In the women's shot put, sophomore Ayanna Mackey (Dayton/Northridge) gave it her all, earning a PR of 10.12m! Her teammate, junior Maggie Hartzler (Rittman/Norwayne), tied her PR in shot put with a big throw of 9.64m!

Assistant Coach Stephanie Fox, who works closely with the throwers, commented on the performance of the athletes, saying, "The throwers had another amazing showing at Wittenberg this weekend! Like last week, the majority of the throwers competing PR'd in at least one of their events. I couldn't be more proud of them!" Coach Fox looks towards the future optimistically by saying, "This upcoming Saturday, we'll be back at ONU, so it will be great to see them get back into a familiar ring. That being said, I'm excited to see them keep this fantastic streak of performances going further into the season!"

A few minutes after the start of the field events, the running events were under way! Flying across the line and earning quick new PR's in the men's 200 meter dash was junior Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton), finishing with a time of 22.94 seconds, followed by his teammate, sophomore Russell Lough (Wintersville/Indian Creek) who set a new PR with a time of 22.95 seconds.

Lough also had an incredible performance in the men's 400 meters, striding across the line in 5th place and earning a PR of 50.48 seconds. Junior Blayden McCoy (Fresno/Ridgewood) also had an outstanding 400 meter race, setting a new PR of 51.60 seconds.

There were many PR's set by the distance squad on the day as well! In the women's 3K race, sophomore Basil Gates (Galion) flew across the line setting a PR of 12:06. Finishing closely behind Gates was sophomore Olivia Daugherty (Bradford) setting a PR of 12:12!

In the men's 3k race, sophomore Cole Kropka (New London) had an outstanding day, setting a new PR of 9:30!

Finally, in the men's mile race, sophomore Braeden Horn (Galion) had an incredible performance, setting a new PR of 5:02! Freshman Jarrod Roudebush (Coshocton) gave it his all in a great race, finishing with a PR time of 5:10. Sophomore Aiden Brien (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) had great performances in both of his events on the day, setting a new PR of 5:28 in the mile, as well as setting a new PR in the men's 800 meters with a time of 2:26.

Assistant Coach Connor Gulick, who works primarily with the distance athletes, commented on the performance of his athletes, "I think overall it was a solid day for the group. This was a busy weekend for a lot of people, but they responded well to it. It was definitely an exciting day and I'm looking forward to seeing where we'll go from here."

Ben Markison, Head Coach of the Bluffton University Track and Field Program, commented, "The meet overall was solid. There were lots of PRs across the board which is great to see with it still being so early in the season."

The Beavers are eager to return to Ohio Northern University next weekend on Saturday, Feb. 4, to compete again on a familiar track!

-BEAVERS-