Sports Information Staff Report
March 8, 2004
Despite taking just six women to Centre College on Saturday, the Bluffton College women's track and field team racked up 105 points to place third overall in the team scoring. The Beavers claimed six event titles on the women's side and one on the men's side in their first outdoor competition of the 2004 season.
"I'm very excited about the way we competed today, especially with the enthusiasm our team showed throughout the meet, supporting one another the entire way," said Coach Nate Smith. "We had a lot of key people not competing today, so the women's finish was definitely a nice surprise, and I thought the men clearly held their own against some very tough competition."
The women were led with three individual event titles coming from freshman Kimleeta Davis. Davis swept the jumps, claiming first place in the long, triple, and high jumps. She also ran the anchor leg on Bluffton's winning 4x100 meter relay, along with Amanda Habegger, Jana Hammer, and Rita Muether. Habegger picked up a title of her own, winning the 400 meter hurdles by a full second. Hammer and Muether, meanwhile, traded places in the 100 and 200 meters, with Hammer placing 2nd in the 100 and 3rd in the 200, and Muether placing 3rd in the 100 and 2nd in the 200. The four sprint athletes combined to account for 90 of Bluffton's 105 points. The women also laid claim to an event title in the pole vault, courtesy of Rachel Noirot, who also earned 6th-place points in the 800 meters. Junior Jennifer Niedermier rounded out the scoring for Bluffton with her fourth-place finish in the 5000 meters.
Bluffton's men picked up an event title early in the day, as junior Troy Baumer came from behind to win the 110 meter hurdles in a time of 16.28. Freshman Josh Espinoza claimed 2nd-place points for Bluffton in the pole vault, while sophomore Dan Rosebrock placed in both middle-distance runs. Rosebrock led off his day with a 4th-place finish in the 1500 meters (4:21.25), and then added a 3rd-place finish in the 800 meters (2:04.01). Freshmen Jordon Bruner and Dave Espinoza also earned 6th-place points for the Beavers in the 800 and 5000 meters, respectively. Espinoza's time of 16:40.61 in the 5000 meters represented a new personal-best.
The Beavers also claimed a few heat victories in their season opener, as senior Ryan Nusbaum won his heats in both the 100 and 200 meters, while sophomore Al Pearson won his 400 meter heat, placing sixth overall. And in a rare chance to compete with his team, Coach Nate Smith placed fourth overall as an unattached athlete in the javelin throw with a toss of 135' 2".
The next outdoor competition for Bluffton will be in two weeks, when the Beavers travel to Nashville for the Vanderbilt Invite, taking roughly half their team to that meet. Bluffton's entire squad will make their outdoor debut on Tuesday, March 23, at Defiance.