January 26, 2014
FINDLAY, Ohio - It was a busy but productive weekend for the Bluffton University men's and women's track and field teams as they battled the elements while traveling to the University of Findlay to compete in the Indoor Track & Field Classic on Friday, Jan. 24 and Saturday, Jan. 25. Highlighting the action were school records and continued improvement evidenced by a variety of personal-record (PR) performances.
Sophomore COLIN MCCLOSKEY (Sylvania/Northview) set the tone Friday night in the 5,000 meter race. In a quality field, McCloskey raced to a new school-record time of 16:13.47, the first Division III finisher. In Saturday's fiercely contested 3,000 meter event, sophomore JOSH EDENS(Westerville/Central) smashed his school record, challenging at the front of the pack throughout the race, to finish 4th in a field of 23 (8:59.85). Edens, like McCloskey, was the first Division III competitor to cross the line and should find himself qualified for the All-Ohio championship meet when the final performance list is posted in mid-February and qualifiers are determined.
In the 800 meters, freshman JACK FISHER (Norwalk/St. Paul) is finding his form in the rough and tumble world of collegiate indoor middle distance racing. Like Edens, he pressed with the lead pack from the gun, finishing 3rd in a field of 27, first Division III athlete, in 1:59.32. Fisher's time qualifies him for the HCAC Indoor Championship meet which will be contested at the end of February.
In the realm of personal record performances, athletes from a number of events saw success. At 3,000 meters, freshman KATI O'NEILL(Wapakoneta)dropped an impressive 37 seconds from her previous best while fellow freshman SETH CLARK (Houston) executed a well-paced race to chop 34 seconds from his time posted earlier in the season. Sophomore ADRIAN RAMIREZ (Archbold), a consistent challenger in the top three among his section, posted an indoor best time at the distance as well.
In the middle distance events senior MARTIN RUSS (Rocky River) raced to a mile best time of 4:37.47 while a pair of freshmen, SHAWN CAMPO(Galion) and PATRICK BREAN (Ashland), posted PRs in the 800 meters. Sprinters earned accolades as well with freshman RJ MILLER(Hymera, Ind./North Central) posting a pair of PR performances in the 60 and 200 meter races. Joining him in the PR department was KAYLA MULLENHOUR (Delphos/Jefferson) who also posted a best time in the 60 meters.
In the field events, freshman DIVAUNTA SPEARMAN (Sandusky/Willard)) did double duty with best marks in both the weight and shot put. Also throwing PRs in the weight were freshman JACOB MORAN (Carey) and sophomores ALEX PARKER (Alger/Upper Scioto Valley) and MASON YINGST (Houston).
"It was a good weekend for our team," said Head Coach Karen Brandt. "The weather is posing challenges to our training so I am very pleased to see we are continuing to improve in a number of events. And, while every meet has its highs, it also has its lows. Our men's distance medley relay was on school record pace Friday night but a dropped baton robbed us of our full potential. Despite this, the guys still produced a time equal to last year's best so I'm confident they will get the job done before the season is over."
The Beavers will travel to Taylor University (IN) on Saturday, Feb. 1. Field events are slated to begin at 10 a.m. with track action to commence at noon.
-BEAVERS-