April 26, 2014
DEFIANCE, Ohio - It was a great day to be a Beaver as the men's and women's track and field team competed in Day two of the Heartland Conference Championship meet. Two more titles were taken while a number of athletes placed in the finals of their events and PR performances were accomplished.
Freshman TREY EVERETT (Sidney/Fairlawn) started his day with victory in the long jump. After going in to the final round with a commanding lead, he saw that shaved to a one centimeter difference with the final attempts remaining to be taken. Jumping last in the order, Everett knew he'd won the competition when his closest competitor did not improve his mark on the final attempt. With nothing to lose having thereby won the competition, Everett soared into the pit 22' 2.25" to put an exclamation mark on his win. Immediately following the conclusion of the long jump, Everett moved to the high jump apron where he continued his winning ways with a 6' 6" clearance.
Freshman teammate BLAKE DREWES (Archbold) also had a big day in the high jump, clearing 6' 4" to claim third place. Freshman WHITNEY WARNECKE (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) fulfilled her season-long goal in the long jump with a new PR, 16' 2.25", good for fifth in a field of 19 women. In men's pole vault, freshman TYLER DAVIS (Sidney/Houston) tied for eighth place. Sophomore EDGAR GONZALEZ (Melvindale, Mich./Melvindale) threw a new PR in the hammer, getting it out of the cage 134' 10".
The track saw a number of quality, points-earning performances. Freshman JACK FISHER (Norwalk/St. Paul) placed third among 30 men in the 1500 meter race in a tight finish that saw just a little over half a second covering first through third places. Freshman TY WHITE (Orrville) placed fourth among the eight men who qualified for the final of the 800 meters, running a season-best 1:57.48 while his female counterpart, sophomore NICHOLE PETERMAN (Killbuck/West Holmes), also finished fourth in her final, also with a season-best 2:27.55. Freshman ANNA HAIRSTON(Mansfield/Ontario) did the 1500/5000 meter double, placing seventh and sixth, respectively, in those events.
In the 400 meter intermediate hurdles final, senior KAYLA MULLENHOUR(Delphos/Jefferson) placed seventh. Freshman JOEL JACOBSON(Franklin/Carlisle) finished eighth in the 100 meter final. Drewes interrupted his high jump competition to compete in the final of the 400 meters, finishing in eighth place.
The women's and men's relays also earned points for their respective teams. The quartet of sophomore HANNAH KRULL (Lewisburg/Tri-County North), sophomore KRISTIN SCHIEFER (Bucyrus/Wynford), freshman Whitney Warnecke and freshman KIM PERRY (West Alexandria/Twin Valley South) finished sixth in the 4 x 100 meters while the men's foursome of freshman RJ Miller, sophomore A.J. EHRESMAN (Attica/Seneca East), junior JOSH MATTOON (Rawson/Cory-Rawson) and freshman Joel Jacobson finished seventh.
The 4 x 400 meter relays duplicated their placements with the personnel of Mullenhour, Krull, Webb and Peterman for the women and Drewes, freshman CAMERON HUSS (Antwerp), Jacobson and White for the men. In the PR category, fellow freshman KATI O'NEILL (Wapakoneta) and PATRICK BREAN (Antwerp) ran new lifetime bests in the 5000 meter and 1500 meter races, respectively.
"During our first year at Bluffton University, we found 16 to 17 athletes here who competed on the track and field team. To have 18 different athletes earning points at this year's championship, three of them individual championships over four events, is just fantastic," said Head Coach Karen Brandt. "Adding to this excitement are the extra honors garnered by Everett along with the continuing rise up the team standings of this very young men's team. The men placed eighth with 11 points in 2012, our first championship; eighth in 2013 with 21 points; and sixth this year with 60.5 points, just six points shy of fifth place. While the women's rise in the team standings has not been as pronounced, the women's point totals have increased and look to be significantly improved in the near future as recruiting efforts are bearing fruit."
The Heartland Conference track and field awards are slated to be released on Thursday, May 1.
The regular season concluded with this weekend's HCAC meet, however, select athletes will participate in last chance competitions in an effort to qualify them for the NCAA national championship meet to be held May 22 through 24 at Ohio Wesleyan University.
-BEAVERS-