February 9, 2013
By: Bryson Hartzler, sports information assistant
DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Bluffton University track and field team traveled north to take part in the Defiance College Open on Friday, Feb. 8. The Beavers sent a split squad to Defiance as the rest of the team prepared for the All-Ohio Indoor Championships on Saturday. Although the team was not at full strength there were still several personal-best performances and one school record also fell.
ZACHARY SMITH (West Unity/Hilltop) would get the ball rolling for the Beavers, setting a new standard for the mile. He ran 4:31.58 in the fast heat of the mile, shaving a second off of the previous record. Smith improved on his season-best time by six seconds on the way to a first place finish. Four other personal bests would come in the mile as the men's trio of RYAN SCHADEWALD (Lima/Bath), ADRIAN RAMIREZ (Archbold) and CHRIS ARNOLD (Fort Wayne, Ind./Canterbury) all set new personal bests on the men's side while freshman TARA MURPHY (Westerville/Thomas Worthington) did the same on the women's side.
Arnold came back to also PR in the 800, as did freshman NICHOLE PETERMAN(Killbuck/West Holmes) from the women's side. Peterman ran a new season-best time of 2:30.30, improving four seconds; her performance was just two seconds shy of breaking the school record. The biggest improvement on the day came in the men's 3000m where JOSH CUNNINGHAM (Poquoson, Va.) improved on his previous best time by nearly 32 seconds.
Elsewhere on the track, CALIB ALEXANDER (Ocala, Fla./St. John Lutheran) improved his time in the 60m dash, shaving four one hundredths off his season best, seeding him 6th going into the conference championships next weekend. HANNAH KRULL (Lewisburg/Tri-County North) set two personal bests, in the 200 and 400, while A.J. EHRESMAN (Attica/Seneca East) set three personal bests, in the 60, 200 and 4x400.
The field events were once again highlighted by the throwers. Several personal bests were set in the shot and the weight. On the women's side, JULIE COURT (Galion) improved on her season best in the shot put by nearly a foot. She also finished 7th in the weight throw. Freshman MARCEA WEST-ESTELL (Toledo/Notre Dame Academy) had the largest improvement on the day, bettering her performance in the shot put by nearly three feet. West-Estell took fifth place with a throw of 34-2. On the men's side, CHASE WALTERS (Convoy/Crestview) and JEFF PARKER (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) established personal bests in both events. Walters improved his performance in the weight by over a foot to finish in 3rd place. He also improved by nearly two feet in the shot to finish 6th. Parker improved on both of his throws, making it to three finals on the day, including the long jump.
Head Coach Karen Brandt was pleased with the all-around performances leading up to the conference championships. "I am again very proud of the performances of our young team. School records and PR's continue to accumulate; excited, happy athletes continue to exit venues with satisfaction and pride. This meet was the last tune-up before the HCAC championships and if it is any indicator, we should have solid performances from both teams next week."
The Beavers will return to Defiance next Saturday, Feb. 16, to compete in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference indoor track and field championships.
-BEAVERS-