By: Jenia Freewalt, sports information assistant
TIFFIN, Ohio - On Saturday morning, Feb. 12, the buses were loaded, and the Beavers were headed east for the Reggie Thomas Classic hosted by Tiffin University. After missing a weekend of racing due to bad weather, the men and women were anxious to get back on the track for one more competition before the conference meet.
Kicking off the meet were the field events where there were many PR's on the day with really promising steps in the right direction heading into the climax of the indoor season. In the women's shot put competition, junior Maggie Hartzler (Rittman/Norwayne) set a new PR of 9.36m, while freshman Ayanna Mackey (Dayton/Northridge) also set a resounding PR of 9.74m. In the men's shot put, junior Michael Lindhorst (Lindsey/Woodmore) set a new PR of 10.75m, and junior Henry Wright (Wooster) threw a new PR of 11.46m. Lindhorst and Wright double PR'd on Saturday, as they both also topped their career bests in the weighted throw competition. Lindhorst established a new PR of 13.54m and Wright set a new PR of 11.85m.
Throws Coach Stephanie Fox was very pleased with the hard work of the athletes, saying, "I am extremely proud of the throws performance again. They have all been working incredibly hard and have really begun to trust in the process. Michael and Henry had a very great day and I'm especially happy with their double PRs! I really can't wait for indoor HCAC conference to see what they do there!"
In the men's long jump competition, sophomore Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton) took first place with a great jump of 6.61m. In the high jump, freshman Kyle Manns (Ottoville) cleared a height of 1.81m, finishing in 8th place. In the men's 60 meter hurdles, Gist finished in 4th overall with a time of 8.64.
Finally, the 4x400 races had the indoor track facility roaring. The men's 4x4 team consisted of sophomore Blayden McCoy (Fresno/Ridgewood), freshman Jayden McConnell (Sunbury/Big Walnut), freshman Simon Shawk (Galion), and freshman Russell Lough (Westerville/Indian Creek). The team put up a time of 3:35.11, finishing in 4th place. The women's 4x4 team was made up of junior Madalynn Schifer (Bucyrus), freshman Kinsey Myers (Stryker), freshman Clara Matthews (Bluffton), and freshman Kailea Greathouse-Kerr (Manchester, Ind.). The women's team finished in 8th place with a time of 4:51.70.
The coaches were very proud of the performances. Coach Ben Markison expressed his feelings about the meet, saying, "I think it was a good meet. We had a lot of PR's today and those that didn't PR still had solid races and jumps. I think it's a step in the right direction with the next weekend being conference."
Head Coach Scott Black also commented on the performance on Saturday, saying, "After another unplanned off week last weekend, it was great to be back competing and get some PR's and season bests to give us positive momentum heading into the conference meet next week."
The Beavers will leave it all on the track when they compete in the HCAC Indoor Championships at Defiance as Bluffton heads to Yellow Jacket country on Saturday, Feb. 19.
-BEAVERS-
