Sports Information Staff Report
February 21, 2004
The Beavers picked up three event titles at Ohio Northern on Friday night, but none of them were nearly as breathtaking as the men's 4x400 meter relay win to close out the meet and Bluffton's indoor season.
The foursome of Al Pearson, Dan Rosebrock, Shandon North, and Troy Baumer shattered the old indoor school record with their winning time of 3:30.14, breaking the old record by nearly five seconds. After Pearson gave the Beavers an early lead following his opening leg, Bluffton stayed within striking distance following a solid run by Rosebrock and a strong finish by North. Baumer then proceeded to take the lead back from Ohio Northern in the first 50 meters of his anchor leg, and continued to open it up over the first lap before holding on for the win despite a late surge from both ONU and eventual runner-up Wilmington. For Rosebrock, it was the second event victory, as part of an extremely successful evening for the sophomore middle-distance runner. Earlier in the evening, Rosebrock went wire-to-wire to win the 800 meters in an indoor personal-best time of 2:01.04.
Bluffton's 25th-ranked women's team, meanwhile, picked up an event title of their own with Jana Hammer's victory in the 55 meters. The junior sprinter set a new school record in the trials with a time of 7.69, then followed that up with a surging final 20 meters for a come-from-behind victory in the finals. That event would prove to be just one of two school records that Hammer would be a part of during the meet. She then combined with Rita Muether, Stephanie Welch, and Amanda Habegger to place second in the 4x400 meter relay, in a school-record time of 4:12.24. That time breaks the old record by over six seconds.
The Beavers also received one other record-breaking performance on the evening, coming from sophomore Stephanie Welch. Welch finished fourth overall in the 800 meters, with a new indoor school record of 2:31.84. Other top performances for Bluffton's women included Rita Muether in the 400 meters (5th, 63.74), Kirstie Dravenstott in the 500 meters (5th, 1:32.61) and high jump (4th, 5-0.25), Kimleeta Davis in the long jump (4th, 16-2.25), Amanda Habegger in the 55 hurdles (5th, 9.41), Katie Snyder in the pole vault (2nd, 8-0), and Jamie Shores in the pole vault (3rd, 8-0). Other top performances for the men included Clint Dillon in the pole vault (4th, 14-0), Troy Baumer in the 55 hurdles (5th, 8.56), Jordon Bruner in the 800 meters (5th, 2:03.23), Johnny Ichrist in the 1500 meters (5th, 4:24.50), and Ben Dodds in the 55 meters (5th, 6.75).
This indoor meet concludes the indoor season for the Beavers. They will next have athletes in action on Saturday, March 6, at the Centre College Invitational in Danville, KY.