TicketsApril 7, 2010
Each week of competition, University of Cincinnati head women's track and field coach Susan Seaton and head men's track and field coach Bill Schnier take a look back at the performances from the previous week. Coach Seaton comments about the women's team, while coach Schnier talks about the men's squad in their weekly Beartracks. This past week, both teams competed at home for the second time this season at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational. Here are Seaton's and Schnier's reactions to the ONI.
Lady Beartracks
Oliver Nikoloff Invitational
Our second home meet brought us a victory in the team standings over in-state rival Kent State University and Division II power Ashland University. Even with key Bearcats out of the meet due to injuries, our squad came together and pulled off a win. We wanted our second home meet of the year to be a stepping stone towards better marks and for some athletes it certainly turned out to be just that. We crowned five event winners on Saturday, scored over 132 points, and recorded five new BIG EAST qualifying marks. Some events were hampered by strong, gusty winds, but overall conditions were good.
Two athletes really stood out this weekend - one is a veteran, high-point scorer in almost every meet we attend, the other is a freshman who had a breakout day. Natasha Burse was our highest point scorer and lone triple winner with victories in the 100m, 200m and 4x 100m relay. Natasha also led off the second-place 4x 400m relay and scored a total of 24.5 points. Her 100m time was a season best, with her start looking much improved.
The freshman with the breakout day was Jessica Cobb, who was our second-highest point scorer with 13 points. The Cincinnati native had big PR's in the shot put and javelin and won the javelin to record her first collegiate meet victory and moved into fourth place on our all-time list. Her shot put mark was a one and a half foot PR and moved her into third place on our all-time list. It looks like Jessica is starting to peak at the right time and we look forward to see what else she will accomplish this season.
Two athletes added a victory to their list of achievements. Aricka Rhodes won her second 400m race of the outdoor season and fighting through a sore knee helped her teammates to victory in the 4x100m relay and to a second-place showing in the 4x400m relay. Steeplechaser Lilian Jelimo was our fourth individual event winner. Her steady running proved to be what was needed to win the day. Now Lilian needs a race with faster competition to move closer to her PR from last season. Finishing in second place in the long jump, Shanay Portis showed that her hard work is starting to pay off. She used the windy conditions in her favor to record a PR and BIG EAST qualifier in the long jump and running the third leg also helped the 4x100m relay to victory. Our pole vault crew had a rough day fighting the gusty winds blowing all over the runway.
Nevertheless sophomore Michelle Eby finished in second place and Stefanie Ponte delivered a solid seventh place showing to provide valuable team points. Sophomore Kathy Klump ran another solid 800m race to prepare for things to come. Running without Jenna Heaton by her side, who had to sit out due to a leg infection, she clocked in a solid time and looks to be ready for a fast race down in Knoxville. She also helped out on second place 4x400m relay team. Fellow sophomore Hauna Dawkins ran a nice lead-off leg on the victorious 4x100m relay team and finished in fifth place in the 100m dash. We hope she will overcome her lingering knee injury to also return to full action in her specialty, the hurdles. Jenny Harsh rounded out the scoring for our sophomore class, finishing in seventh place in the 1500m run with a big PR. Veteran Deanna Rippy had a nice day, recording two PR's in the hammer and the discus. Deanna's hammer mark is her first BIG EAST qualifying mark and also puts her eighth on our all-time list.
The story of the meet would not be told without mentioning the athletes on the sidelines or in the meet but not at full strength. With potential point scorers Mackenzie Fields, Jasmine Cotten, Jenna Heaton, Tamara Masters, Jocelyn McCauley, Anastasia Tarpeh and Alyssa Edley out, we looked pretty thin in many areas. We did not have a competitor entered in the triple jump, 400m hurdles and 5k. We also had Ashley Arnold, Paris Campbell, Hauna Dawkins and Aricka Rhodes battling injuries coming in to the meet. With four weeks left to the BIG EAST Championships, we really need to take good care of ourselves, get healthy and find our second wind. It is now that we need to make a stand and focus in on what we want to accomplish. The BIG EAST meet will be here if we are ready or not and we need to use the next four weeks wisely.
Go Bearcats!
Head Coach, Cincinnati Women's Track & Field
MEN'S Beartracks
It was Easter weekend. 26 teams entered the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational but when we were forced to decrease the field by about 20%, several canceled to find another competition. Sixteen teams remained which made for a very complete meet, one which we won. We continue to be undefeated in 2010. One reason for this is our balance as we scored in 14 of the 19 events, missing only the hammer, javelin, long jump, 200m and 5,000m. Runner-up Ashland, a national powerhouse in Division II as a team in large part because of its throwers, scored 66 of their 135 points in the four throwing events. The Bearcats, however, scored 27 separate times, six of them victories. Our tradition of quality and depth continues, striving to be good in all track and field events.
Bearcat winners were Brandon Fitch in the high jump (6' 9-3/4"), Rick King, 3,000m steeplechase (9:23.50), the 4 x 100 relay of Anthony Chandler, Antione Drakeford, Chase VanCura and Dayo Igeleke (41.63), Eric Finan, 1,500m (3:50.73), Terrence Somerville, 110m hurdles (14.40) and Jon McClelland, 800m (1:54.49). Although none of their marks were personal records, due in large part to the wind, all were outstanding efforts. After winning the high jump, Brandon raised the bar to 7', narrowly grazing it and watching it fall on his final attempt. Rick damaged his knee three weeks ago in practice and was quite worried about those immobile steeplechase barriers, yet he ran especially well over the water jump, winning the race by a wide margin. The 4 x 100 relay finally resembled our vision as Antione Drakeford ran for the first time this year. They did not disappoint with a rousing victory highlighted by four good legs. Eric took a break from the 1,500m to work on his speed. He seemed to have more than enough with a huge third-lap surge in the 1,500m followed by a feverish finish. His 3:50.73 now ranks him sixth on the all-time UC list in an "off event." Terrence has had a bad groin pull for nearly a year now and has trouble practicing. On Saturday he blotted that out of his mind to win his specialty, the 110m hurdles. Afterwards he was on crutches. In the 800m, Jon McClelland has spent all four years at UC in the shadows of someone else. No longer! He won his first college meet in an impressive 1:54.49 two-lapper with a combination of pace and kick.
As always, our throwers, small in number but high in quality, more than held their own against Ashland and Findlay. In the discus, which started at 9:00 AM, Troy, Chris and Jake went 4-5-8. Eight hours later Troy and Chris were now putting the shot, earning a 4-7 finish. The most rewarding of all of this throwing came at the end when Chris Littleton set a shot put PR for the third consecutive week, upping his best to 54' 1-3/4". Brian Zimmerman opted out of the javelin because of a sore shoulder but will be back next week.
Frequently the most happiness comes from efforts only known to the competitor, their friends and coaches. Ricky Lupp told such a story. He only scored one point with an eighth in the 1,500 M. but his 3:58.79 / 1:59.58 double showed speed for a 10K runner and a range which will serve him well in a few weeks. All-American Antione Drakeford is not accustomed to being out of the limelight, but he is coming back from a stress fracture, very happy to finally be in a meet. Running second leg of our 4 x 100 and placing third in the 100 M. did not make much noise to others but it was heard loud and clear by those on the team. Ethan Freet has practiced so well with little to show for it during competitions. All that changed as his 55.28 for the 400m hurdles not only got him third place in this meet but showed lots of potential for the future. Another injured person, Zach Schmidt, placed fourth in the triple jump but had two huge jumps with minor fouls, if there is such a thing as a minor foul. Our backup high jumpers, Mike Foley and Ryan Beltz, seldom take center stage but are always factors in every meet. Such people enabled us to win as a team on Saturday. The 1,500m promised to be a very interesting Bearcat event as Eric Finan came down from the 5,000m and Michael Rutherford went up from the 800m. Who would win between the distance runner or the half-miler? On this occasion it proved to be Eric but Michael was close behind for a 1-2 finish. Running four events is never easy but Chase VanCura was in the 4 x 100, 400, 200 and 4 x 400. As usual he ran them all well. The pole vault did not yield great marks because of a stiff cross wind, but Elliot Vocke and Ben Hall cleared heights, enabling them to get third and fifth respectively.
Although we defined ourselves more by who was in the meet instead of who was not, we continue to have some standouts missing. Some should return, some could and others will not. We need as many as possible back!