By: Tami Groff, sports information assistant
TIFFIN, Ohio - The Bluffton University Track and Field Team traveled to Tiffin to compete against tough competition at the Tiffin Grand Prix on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020.
On the sprints and pole vault side, there were some good performances and there were some great performances. In the women's 200-meter dash, freshman Stacey Chirewa (Harare, Zimbabwe/Chisipile) and Taijah Lewis (East Pointe, MI/Clintondale) produced impressive personal records. Lewis also qualified for the HCAC Championships with a time of 27.78 seconds, which puts her 5th amongst all conference competitors. Senior Justin Kauffman (Smithville) finished tied for 6th place in the competition. "The standout of the meet definitely came from the sprints," Coach Jachno stated. "Lewis ran her heart out in the 400-meter race to come back on shaky legs in the 200-meter dash and get a personal record. I can definitely tell Coach Briggs is working with his athletes."
On the distance side, senior Bailie Barrington (Waynesfield/Waynesfield Goshen) ran an impressive personal record of 5:32 in the women's mile race, which is just two seconds from the school record. Barrington moved up to 4th amongst all HCAC conference competitors. She finished in 7th place in both the mile and the 800-meter race. Sophomore Hope Nixon (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) also had an impressive race coming back from just a week of practice. Nixon also produced a great personal record.
In the men's mile, senior Connor Gulick (St. Louisville/Utica) and freshman Britton Boyle (Middletown/Madison) ran a great race en route to a pair of personal records. With a total of 72 competitors, Gulick finished in 10th place. In the 3000-meter race, senior Arie Cox (Ontario) took 18 seconds off of her time for a season best of 11:40. Cox is just seven seconds off of her personal record. She also finished in 7th place out of 17 competitors. Freshman Max Chandler (Liberty Township/Lakota East) ran the 3000-meter race with a five-second personal best. "This meet was another step in the right direction. It is wonderful seeing lifetime bests again because we have not done any 'true' speed workouts and these lifetime bests are on pure endurance," stated Coach Wells.
The throws side also saw personal records fall in the weight throw. Freshman Emma Payne (Hicksville) fired off a tremendous throw of 13.01 meters which qualified her for conference. It placed her 9th amongst all conference competitors. The men also had an impressive day in the weight throw. Senior John Jones (Cincinnati/Walnut Hills) finally broke 16-meters and placed 11th out of 48 competitors. His throw placed him 2nd in conference. Freshman Dakotah Bunn (Millbury/Lake) also threw a personal record.
"The whole team entered into a new training cycle this week, so most athletes were pretty sore. The entire coaching staff were expecting mixed results from the team, but we definitely got the opposite," quipped Coach Jachno about how the team did as a whole.
Most of the Beavers will be traveling to Ohio Wesleyan for the Valentine's Open on Friday, Feb 14, while others head to Otterbein for the All-Ohio meet on Saturday, Feb 15.
-BEAVERS-