TicketsBearcat Track Heads to Regionals
UC sends six student-athletes to Bloomington, Ind.
Contact: Jeremy Martin
5/25/2005
Chris Smith heads to the NCAA Mid-East Regional Championships ranked 14th in the nation in the pole vault |
BEARCATS HEAD TO NCAA MID-EAST REGIONAL: The University of Cincinnati will send seven student athletes to Bloomington, Ind. for the NCAA Mid-East Regional Championship meet on May 27-28. The two-day event will take place at Indiana University?s Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex with the top five finishers in each event moving on to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. on June 8-11.
MEET INFORMATION:
2005 NCAA Mid-East Regional Championships
?Host: Indiana University
?Final results: Available at www.deltatiming.com and www.ncaasports.com
?Cincinnati Student-Athletes Participating: Renee Hein (high jump), Jo Young (shot put, hammer throw), Chandler Groves (long jump), Steve Kahle (shot put), Andrew Smith (high jump), Chris Smith (pole vault).
BEARCATS FINISH THIRD, SEVENTH AT C-USA CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Bearcat men finished third at the 2005 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Houston on May 14. The Bearcats posted 90 points in the 21 events while the women placed seventh with 57 points. Houston took home both men?s (201 points) and women?s (127 points) titles.
Steve Kahle earned the Bearcat men?s second C-USA individual championship with a personal-best and regional-qualifying 56' 3-3/4" shot put. Ben Haber won the decathlon on the second day of competition.
Four men?s high jumpers scored for the Bearcats, including Justin Bending and Tyler Grieves, who finished in a third-place tie after clearing 6' 6-3/4". Andrew Smith finished seventh and Patrick Dunn finished eighth to account for 14 points in the event.
Also scoring for the men were Alex Ramsey and Patrick Starkey in the 800 meters, finishing fourth (1:50.56) and fifth (1:50.60), respectively. Both came up just shy of the regional qualifying mark of 1:50.40. Clarence Hartman finished sixth in the 400 meter hurdles in 53.93 while pole vaulter Chris Smith finished second, clearing 16' 6-3/4". Fellow vaulters Dan Albrinck and Chad Beamer finished sixth and seventh, respectively, each clearing 15' 7". Rounding out the men?s scorers was Mike Mockbee, who placed fifth in the discus with a season-best 159' 9" throw.
The women were led by Jo Young, who smashed her own school mark in the shot put with a 51' 1/4" toss, finishing in second place. She also won the hammer throw and finished fifth in the discus (149' 0"), accounting for 22 of the team?s 57 points.
Renee Hein finished second in the high jump after winning the C-USA Indoor title. Her clearance of 5' 8-3/4" tied for the best mark, but Southern Miss? Krista Miller missed only once in her attempt to clear that height, while Hein missed five times before clearing on her final attempt.
YOUNG ADDS ACCOLADES: Jo Young added to her outstanding weekend at the C-USA Championships when she earned C-USA Female Athlete of the Year honors. She won the hammer throw for her first C-USA individual championship and finished second in the shot, breaking her own school record. Young also finished fifth in the discus, accounting for 22 of the team?s 57 points. Young is the second Bearcat to earn such an honor, as hurdler David Payne won the men?s award in 2004.
THREE MORE QUALIFY AT C-USA: Three more Bearcats qualified for postseason competition at the C-USA Championships on May 12-14. Steve Kahle won the shot put title with a 56? 3-3/4? toss. Chandler Groves lept 25? 2-3/4? in the long jump, finishing third. Ben Haber became UC?s sixth decathlon champion in the 10-year history of Conference USA, posting 7204 points to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships. The three join Jo Young (shot put, hammer throw), Ashley Wilhelm (heptathlon), Renee Hein (high jump), Jimmy Mount (decathlon), Andrew Smith (high jump), and Chris Smith (pole vault) as postseason participants.
DECATHLON DOMINANCE: With Ben Haber?s victory in the decatlon at the C-USA Championships, the Bearcats have won six of the 10 decathlon championships in conference history. Chris Wineberg (2004, 2002), Mike Yoder (1999), and David Yimsumruay (1997, 1996) were the other UC champs. Haber and teammate Jimmy Mount will look to sustain the excellence at the NCAA Championships. Last season, Chris Wineberg finished eighth, earning All-American honors.
LIKE A BROKEN RECORD: Five UC records have fallen this season, all on the women?s side. Freshman Brittany Klima now holds the Bearcats? pole vault honors, clearing 11? 11-3/4? at the Raleigh Relays. Ashley Wilhelm broke her own heptathlon mark at the All-Ohio Championships (5137) and again at the C-USA Championships (5223). Renee Hein bettered Wilhelm?s mark in the javelin at the C-USA Championships with a 130? 6? heave. Jo Young, the indoor shot put record holder, now owns three school records after breaking her own mark in the shot put (51? 1/4?) and setting a new mark in the hammer throw (183? 0?).
ALL-AROUND ATHLETE: Ashley Wilhelm is quickly making herself into one of UC?s greatest athletes. She holds both the pentathlon (3567) and heptathlon (5223) records, while also owning the top mark in the outdoor long jump (19? 9-1/2?). Wilhelm finds her name in UC?s top 10 in several events, including the indoor 60 meters (third), 60 meter hurdles (fourth), long jump (second), pole vault (second), outdoor 100 meter hurdles (fifth), high jump (fifth) and pole vault (sixth). She is also a member of several relay teams, sometimes competing in up to 10 events in a single meet. Wilhelm has placed second in the heptathlon in the last two C-USA Championships.
UP NEXT: Bearcat qualifiers will head to Sacramento, Calif. for the 2005 NCAA Championships on June 8-11 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.