Sports Information Staff Report
January 24, 2004
Seven total indoor school records were broken by the Bluffton track and field team Friday night, with six of those new records being set by the men's team.
The men's sprint team led the way Friday night, as four individual records fell in the sprints and middle distances. Sophomore two-sport star Ben Dodds quickly made his season debut a good one, as he qualified for the 55 meter finals in a school-record time of 6.64 seconds. Dodds also ran the leadoff leg for the 4x200 meter relay, which shaved two-tenths of a second off the record set last season, with a new record time of 1:34.87. Joining Dodds on that team was Aaron Williams, Al Pearson, and Ryan Nusbaum. Pearson also set a new record in the 300 meters, breaking the record he set last season as a freshman by nearly a half-second. Pearson's time of 36.95 easily won his heat.
Pearson was also able to help set a new school record time in the Distance Medley Relay. That team of Dan Rosebrock (1200 meters), Pearson (400 meters), Johnny Ichrist (800 meters), and Dave Espinoza (1600 meters) broke last year's school record by nearly 12 seconds, finishing third overall in a time of 11:14.71. The other individuals for the men to claim new records were Rosebrock and Troy Baumer. Rosebrock took over two full seconds off his previous record in the 1000 meters with a time of 2:39.46, while Baumer broke the 500 meter record previously held by the late Chris Mackey, with his time of 68.92.
Other top performances for the men included Steve Myers in the shot put (5th, 45' 3.75"), Josh Espinoza in the pole vault (13' 0.25"), and Johnny Ichrist in the 800 meters (6th, 2:06.17).
The women received a record-breaking performance of their own, coming from junior Amanda Habegger in the 500 meters. Habegger broke the record by over two seconds with her time of 1:26.02. The performance highlighted a solid night overall for the sprinter/hurdler, who also turned in a good season-opening run in the 55 meter hurdles (9.60), along with a strong anchor leg on the 4x400 meter relay. While also highlighted by performances in the sprint events, the women had other strong performances throughout as well. The sprint trio of Jana Hammer, Cindy Allan, and Rita Muether all posted times under eight seconds in the 55 meters, led by Hammer's personal-best time of 7.90 seconds, which she duplicated in both the trials and finals, to take fifth place overall. The trio also combined with freshman Kimleeta Davis to take fifth in the 4x200 meter relay, in a solid season-opening time of 1:52.27. Muether went on to claim a fourth-place finish in the 300 meters (44.14) and ran leadoff on the 4x400 relay with Hammer, Stephanie Welch, and Habegger (6th, 4:24.39).
Outside of the sprint events, Welch turned in strong performances in the 1000 meters and high jump. Welch came one second shy of a new school record in the 1000 meters, while placing fifth in 3:25.62. She then also tied for fifth in the high jump. Other top performances for the women included Katie Snyder in the pole vault (4th, 8' 0"), Jamie Shores in the vault (6th, 7' 6"), Cindy Allan in the triple jump (5th, 29' 11.5"), and Michele Bailey in the weight throw (6th, 38' 11").
"I'm extremely pleased with the performance and effort we showed in our first competition of the season," head coach Nate Smith said. "We took the approach that this meet was being used for training, and in many events our performances exceeded what we have done in the past. There were definitely some standout performances to be excited about, and right now I am looking forward to how we will progress in the indoor season."
The Beavers will return to action when they travel to HCAC rival Anderson University on Saturday, February 7.
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