TicketsBearcat Track and Field Preps for Busy Weekend
Contact: Jeremy Martin
3/23/2005
Ben Haber won the long jump and javelin titles at the Early Bird Relays |
UC SPLITS SQUAD: The Bearcats will send four athletes to Tucson, Ariz. for the Wildcat Combined Events, hosted by the University of Arizona, on March 24-25. The rest of the Bearcats will head to the competitive Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C. on March 25-26.
MEET INFORMATION:
Wildcat Combined Events
?Host: University of Arizona
?Final results: Available at http://arizonaathletics.com.
?UC athletes competing: Ben Haber, Jimmy Mount, Erin Leeper, Ashley Wilhelm
?Events: Decathlon, Heptathlon
Raleigh Relays
?Host: North Carolina State
?Final results: Available at http://www.flashresults.com/ncstate/.
?Events: 100 meters, 100 meter hurdles, 110 meter hurdles, 200 meters, 400 meters, 400 meter hurdles, 800 meters, 1,500 meters, 3,000 meter steeplechase, 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, 4 x 100 relay, 4 x 200 relay, 4 x 400 relay, 4 x 800 relay, 4 x 1,500 relay, high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, hammer throw, shot put, discus, javelin.
BEARCATS START STRONG AT EARLY BIRD RELAYS: The University of Cincinnati men?s and women?s track and field teams opened the 2005 outdoor season at Gettler Stadium, playing host to the Early Bird Relays. The men?s team captured the Early Bird title, while the women finished second to Bowling Green.
The UC men won individual titles in 16 of the 19 events, while the women captured 12 individual crowns.
Leading the men was Ben Haber, who won the long jump (23? 1-1/2?) and javelin (165? 2?), while finishing second in the 110 meter hurdles (15.26).
On the track, 2004 NCAA qualifier Kenny Wade nabbed the 100 meter dash title, posting a 10.71. Lonnie Irving won the 400 meter dash in 49.36, while placing second in the 200 meter dash (22.61). Justin Conway, who captured the 200 meter dash title in 22.06, finished second behind Wade in the 100 with a 10.97.
The Cincinnati women, as was the case throughout the entire indoor season, dominated the field events. Jo Young was the leading point-scorer, winning the shot put (44? 5?), hammer throw (158? 9?) and discus (133? 1?). Conference USA indoor high jump champion Renee Hein captured her first outdoor title in the event, clearing 5? 6?.
On the track, Erin Leeper (200 meter dash, 25.39), Jammie Jackson (400 meter dash, 58.44), Jocelyn Gibson (800 meters, 2:16.77), and Danielle Erwin (400 meter hurdles, 1:06.05) earned individual titles for the Bearcats.
YOUNG AT HEART: Senior Jo Young was named the Conference USA Women?s Track and Field Athlete of the Week for the week ending on March 20.
Young won three events at the Early Bird Relays, held last weekend at UC?s Gettler Stadium. The Bearcats? record holder in the shot put, she won the shot (44' 5-1/4"), hammer throw (158' 10"), and discus (133' 1"). Her hammer throw mark is tops in C-USA this season, while her shot put mark ranks third and discus mark ranks sixth.
LIKE A BROKEN RECORD: The women?s indoor track and field team set several school records in 2005.
Sophomore Renee Hein improved on her own school mark throughout the season, winning the C-USA high jump title with a 5? 9-1/2? leap.
Junior Shintara Carpenter also broke her own record in the triple jump, posting a 40? 10-1/4?.
Sophomore Tara Meier was locked in a three-way tie with Junior Ashley Wilhelm and Freshman Brittany Klima for the top pole vault mark. She eclipsed her teammates at the C-USA Championships with an 11? 11-3/4? vault.
Wilhelm bettered her own school mark, scoring 3567 points in the pentathlon in winning the Akron Open.
Senior Jo Young dominated the indoor season, winning seven of the 12 events she entered. Young holds each of the top 10 indoor shot put marks in school history.
DEFENDING THE CROWN: The UC men?s team will be looking to defend its Conference USA title this season. Last year, the men won their third C-USA crown in nine years. The Bearcat men have finished no lower than third at the C-USA Championships and placed second on four occasions.
The women?s team has improved since the league started in 1996. UC finished last, scoring only one team point in 1996, but has finished sixth and fifth, respectively, the last two seasons.
FOUR BEARCATS PLACE AT USATF INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: Four University of Cincinnati track and field athletes competed in the 2005 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 25-27 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston, Mass. Current athletes Kenny Wade and Chris Smith, along with former Bearcats David Payne and Mary Danner, all placed in the top five in their respective events.
Payne, a two-time All-American for UC, posted a 7.64 in the 60 meter hurdles finals, placing fourth. His 7.62 was the fastest time in the preliminaries and set an all-time Ohio record.
A 2004 NCAA qualifier, Wade just missed the finals in the 60 meter dash, posting a 6.777 in the preliminaries. Wade essentially finished ninth, as the last of the eight finals qualifiers ran a 6.771. His time eclipsed his school record by .03 seconds.
Smith finished in a fifth-place tie in the pole vault, clearing 17' 3/4".
The lone UC female to compete, Danner placed second in the 400 meter dash, finishing in 53.25. Danner holds each of the top 10 marks in UC history in the event, and bested her school record of 55.54, set in 2002.
OPENING GETTLER: The men?s and women?s track and field teams played host to the Early Bird Relays on March 19, in the first meet held at the newly-renovated Gettler Stadium. The stadium, also home to UC?s men?s and women?s soccer teams, is part of the Richard E. Lindner Varsity Village. Gettler Stadium features an eight-lane, 400 meter track, an official size soccer field with FieldTurf Pro playing surface, permanent grandstands with seating for 1,400 patrons, concession stands and restrooms, a pressbox, scoreboard with message center, and lights. Varsity Village addresses the needs to attract quality student-athletes to all of Cincinnati?s sports programs and provide an environment in which they can succeed academically, athletically, and physically.
COMING UP: UC will host the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational on April 2 at Gettler Stadium.