March 22, 2003
by Nate Smith
No school records seem safe anymore with the 2003 Bluffton women's track and field team. On Saturday, sophomore Amanda Habegger and freshman Rita Muether led the charge as the Beavers (16-4) put together another fine showing at the Emory University Division III Spring Break Invitational, placing 5th overall out of the 19 schools competing.
Habegger continued a strong week of performances with two individual 4th-place finishes in both hurdle races. Her time of 16.65 in the 100 hurdles was also a collegiate-best for the sophomore. Muether, meanwhile, continued to look impressive in the 200 meters, placing 4th overall in a time of 27.64, near the school record time she recorded in the previous meet. The two then combined on both relays to set two more school records, along with top finishes in the meet. The women's 4x100 meter relay recorded the top finish on the track for the Beavers in a time of 51.32, placing 3rd in the race. Habegger and Muether were joined on the relay by Jana Hammer and Marquita Miller. Habegger, Muether, Miller, and Stephanie Welch later teamed up to break the 4x400 meter relay record with a time of 4:14.05, placing 4th overall and breaking the previous school record by over eight seconds.
The sprint standouts were not the only peak performers for the Beavers. Freshman Lauren Borga continued to rewrite Bluffton distance records with her time of 41:39.80 in the 10,000 meters, breaking the 4-year old record in that event by nearly 56 seconds. Meanwhile, the field event athletes also had a fine day, highlighted by junior Laurel Miller and sophomore Michele Bailey. Miller broke an 11-year old school record by leaping out to 33' 1.25" in the triple jump, giving her the top individual finish for the Beavers with a 3rd-place standing. Bailey, meanwhile, dueled with teammate Megan Beach in the hammer throw, as the two combined to break Bailey's previous school record three times during the meet. Bailey finished 6th overall with a new school record of 126' 3", while Beach placed 7th at 122' 0". And not to be outdone, junior Rachel Noirot set a new outdoor personal-best and school record in the pole vault, at 8' 0.5", a half-inch better than her record from last season.
The Bluffton men also had strong individual showings of their own in the meet, featuring a few top finishes in the field events.
Freshman Jeremy King and sophomore Fred Yoder had the high finishes on the day for the Beavers, who placed 13th overall. King cleared 6' 0.75" in the high jump to place third in the meet, while Yoder set a new personal-best of 13' 5.75" in the pole vault to claim 4th in that event. It was the second time this week that Yoder had matched or bettered his previous best of 13 feet. Freshman Jeff Lehman also placed in the shotput for the Beavers, with a personal-best throw of 42' 7", to gain an 8th-place finish.
With a few sprinters back home recovering from injuries, the Bluffton men were hoping for some strong individual showings on the track, and they were not disappointed. Junior Ryan Nusbaum continued to have a strong start to the 2003 season. After missing the tri-meet earlier in the week, Nusbaum returned to win his heat in the 100 meters, placing 8th overall. Freshman Dan Rosebrock also lowered his season-best time in the 800 meters to 2:00.32, placing 2nd in his heat. In the higher distances, senior Steve Borga set a new personal-best time in the 10,000 meters at 35:39.41.
In other field event action, senior Travis Lepley led the hammer throwers with a toss of 114' 9", just two feet off his personal-best, while Borga was the top Bluffton finisher in the javelin throw at 120' 6".
Bluffton's entire squad will return to action on Saturday, March 29, at Anderson University.