Sports Information Staff Report
April 3, 2004
Sophomore Jennifer Creamer set a new school record in the women's 5000 meters on Saturday to help pace the Beavers to a 4th-place finish in their only home competition of the season. Her time of 19:34.46 broke the old record by nine seconds, previously held by teammate Lauren Borga. Bluffton's women finished fourth out of eight teams, placing behind only Division I Bowling Green, Division II Ferris State, and Albion College. The Beavers defeated Tiffin, Taylor, Defiance, and Notre Dame College. Three of those four schools are scholarship programs.
Bluffton's men, meanwhile, received strong efforts in the field events, with standout performances coming from Clint Dillon and Steve Myers. Dillon won the pole vault competition with a vault of 14' 11". Myers claimed two top-five finishes in the meet, placing second in the discus throw at 143' 6" and fifth in the shot put at 45' 3.5". Their performances helped the men to finish sixth in the nine-team field, placing ahead of Defiance, Notre Dame College, and Dayton.
The Bluffton women also received a number of other strong performances throughout the team. Junior Jana Hammer placed 7th in the 100 meters (13.06), while also setting a new personal-best in the 200 meters (26.84). Freshman Cindy Allan ran her best times of the year as well, in both the 100 meters (13.51) and the 200 meters (27.69). Amanda Habegger had one of the top finishes for the Beavers with her 4th-place run in the 400 meter hurdles, while senior Laurel Miller also ran her best time of the season in the 100 meter hurdles (16.94). The Beavers' 4x400 meter relay also ran their best time of the outdoor season at 4:13.94; the quartet of Rita Muether, Hammer, Stephanie Welch, and Habegger finished behind only the teams from Bowling Green. Habegger also placed seventh in the pole vault, while junior Michele Bailey picked up two top-6 finishes for Bluffton, placing third in the discus throw and sixth in the hammer throw. Sophomore Kirstie Dravenstott also earned a top-3 finish, placing third in the high jump.
Aside from Myers' and Dillon's performances in the field events, Bluffton's men received a majority of their scoring from the track. Colby Bright ran one of the top times in the HCAC this season for the 200 meters, placing fourth in 23.05. Shandon North also claimed a 4th-place finish, running a season-best time of 51.56 in the 400 meters. Dan Rosebrock and Jordon Bruner also ran season-best times in the 800 meters, finishing third and fourth with times of 1:59.5h and 2:00.0h, respectively. Johnny Ichrist also picked up a 7th-place finish in that race. The Beavers other top-3 finish came courtesy of freshman Dave Espinoza, who placed third in his first-ever 10,000 meters, in a time of 35:07.61. The men also received season-best performances from: Jason Lehman (200m, 23.46), Andy Schiefer (1500m, 4:31.67), Pat Cooley (5000m, 17:27.38), and Chris Wojciechowski (10,000m, 37:46.93).
Bluffton returns to action next Saturday when they travel to Defiance for the Yellow Jacket Classic. Bluffton's outdoor records currently stand at 22-13 for the women, and 19-17 for the men.