January 10, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's and women's track and field team resumed competition for the indoor season Friday night at Capital University. Strong performances throughout the team evidenced commitment to training during the break between semesters. The women came in second to host Capital while the men ran away from the second place Crusaders (156 to 108.50), taking first in a field of five teams.
Sophomore jumper Trey Everett (Sidney) got the evening started on a positive note, taking wins in both the high jump and long jump. Everett's clearance of 6' 8.25" qualified him for the HCAC conference championship as did his 22' 2.50" distance in the long jump. Both marks will undoubtedly place him toward the front among the qualifiers for next month's All-Ohio championship meet. Freshman hurdler Brandon Lowery (Perrysburg) re-established his 60 meter hurdle school record, setting the new time at 8.75 seconds, which should also advance him to All-Ohio.
Freshman Sarah Hunter (Mt. Blanchard/Riverdale), in her maiden indoor 800 effort, not only won the event but nearly eclipsed the school record, running 2:28.24, only .18 from the record. Sophomore Terrill Webb (Kenton) dominated the pole vault, winning with a clearance of 10' 6". On the men's side, the freshman duo of Brock Morris (Burbank/Norwayne) and Kyle Knezovich (Utica) cleared 14' 0" and 13' 6.25" respectively.
Junior Edgar Gonzalez (Melvindale, Mich./Melvindale) continued to impress in the throws, taking a pair of third place finishes in shot and weight with distances of 42' 6" and 48' 10" respectively. Freshman Thaddeus Phillips (South Bend, Ind./Riley), another indoor novice, made his mark in both the 60 and 200 meter events, making the final in the former with a 7.41 clocking and finishing 4th in a field of 17 in the latter with 24.41.
The night was capped by an exciting performance by the men's 4 x 400 meter relay. The quartet of freshman Trey Everett, freshman Augie Espinoza (Prescott Valley, Ari./Bradshaw Mountain), and sophomores Jack Fisher (Norwalk/St. Paul) and Ty White (Orrville) were in contention throughout the exchange of batons with White taking it at anchor. Matching strides with sprinters from Taylor and Central State Universities, White sat in third for most of the leg, taking second from Central on the back straight of the final lap and cruising to the shoulder of Taylor by the front stretch where he sprinted to the lead in a crowd-pleasing performance of 3:32.12 to Taylor's 3:32.54.
"It's always a great unknown when your team has been on semester break for nearly a month," said Head Coach Karen Brandt, "as to who did their workouts and who didn't. It was gratifying to see the commitment the vast number of our athletes had to their training since they left campus in mid-December. This past week's bitter temperatures haven't done any favors to workout conditions either but I've seen our team take it all in stride and work hard knowing that effort now pays dividends later."
The Beavers will compete next at the University of Findlay on Friday, Jan. 16. Field events start at 2:30 with action taking to the track at 5 p.m.
-BEAVERS-