TicketsJan. 24, 2011
VOL. 31
NO. 9
January 24, 2011
Our fifth place team finish at the All-Ohio Indoor Championships at Kent State University was disappointing, not because our effort was lacking but mostly because of three reasons: (1) we were grossly outscholarshiped, (2) we were missing several big scorers and (3) this was our first indoor meet of 2011 whereas all other teams were on their second or third indoor meet. Realistically I was extremely happy with the effort of the UC Bearcats because we only have three meets this winter and did not want to squander our first one. We fully expect to get our MIAs back soon and our second meet next week at the University of Kentucky will be vastly different from this one. Although this was our lowest All-Ohio finish since 1996, we will do our best to turn things around by the time we host the same meet outdoors on April 15-16. Help is on the way.
Lest anyone feel sorry for us there was plenty of good news from out stars, Eric Finan and Terrence Somerville. Eric pulled away from Tisia Kiplangat of Kent State and Kenya toward the end of the 5,000 M. run, then poured it on to win by 17 seconds. Not only was that a new UC record, eclipsing Chris Reis's 2003 mark, but it also moved him into second place on the current NCAA list. Even better was Terrence Somerville's 60 M. hurdle race. His 8.03 preliminary was good but only the second-best time to Akron's Tyshaun Peoples. The finals were another story. Terrence broke out to a great start then ran a near-flawless race, finishing a huge 0.3 seconds ahead of second place. His mark of 7.68 was a Fieldhouse record, nearly a UC record and gave him the top time in the NCAA at this time. David Payne's UC record of 7.62 is now in sight and a real possibility. Congratulations to these standout performances by Eric and Terrence, both juniors.
Although those were our only two winners, we had plenty of other exciting performances, none more than Josh Dangel's third place in the pole vault. He's a new breed of Bearcat. This LaSalle High School grad and Eastern Michigan transfer set a big PR by clearing 16' 5-1/4" and nearly got 16' 9". Not only is that seventh on the all-time UC list in his first competition but it also puts him hot on the trail of Chris Smith's school indoor record of 17' 9" and his high school coach, Mike Albrinck's mark of 17' 4-3/4". He got great support from our team and deserved all of it. The distance medley relay also got third place with a very nice 10:10.51. All four legs were good ones. Oliver Book (3:08.6), Chase VanCura (48.8), Kyle Neyer (1:57.9) and Eric Finan (4:15.1) were far from their best racing shape yet still made it look easy. Oliver came back in the 3,000 M. on Saturday with his best-ever indoor race. He showed excellent pacing and plenty of confidence by leading the middle half of the race before slowing ever so slightly. His 8:28.09 now ranks him eighth on our all-time list, moving down Scott Jones, Rick King and Eric Heins.
Like Oliver and Eric, Maurice Norman had a significant double. He was not in the fast section of the 400 M. yet ran a strong 48.44 to place fifth overall, moving him up to seventh on our all-time list. Maurice was not quite right yet ran the 200 M. anyway and placed sixth at 22.03. His final race of the day was in the 4 x 400 relay as he anchored our fourth-place team in a spectacular 47.3. What a day for this sophomore. We had two other placers: Troy Cooper in the shot put (7th, 54' 5-1/4") and Mike Foley in the high jump (6th, 6' 6-3/4"). The competition was stiff in both events but both Troy and Mike were up to the task. Dillon Risser backed up Josh in the pole vault with a very encouraging 14' 7-1/2", good for eighth in his first collegiate competition. We had two rookies in the heptathlon, Kyle Kubera (4216) and Nick Furney (3803). As is true with all combined event efforts there were plenty of ups and downs, but both did well in the pole vault and 1000 M., the final two events.
Others did not place but did plenty well. Chris Littleton was best in that category with a very good toss of 53' 10-1/4" good for ninth in the shot put. He will place in that event outdoors and be a candidate to win the discus. Andrew Henderson began his college career with a high jump of 6' 2-1/4". Although he did not place, in large part due to running in lane three and four much of the way, Evan Baum showed real promise in the mile run as did Jeffrey Griffiths who had a terrific kick in the same event. Steven Mitchell and Mario Cannon narrowly missed making the hurdle finals but should do so in all the remaining indoor races. Our 800 M. trio of Kyle Neyer, Tony Williamson and Kyle Esber ran hard and well, but were not good enough to place this time. Eric Hauser and Chase Beckmann did the same in the 3,000 M. At last we have opened our season. It will take the rest of the year to get to where we want to go and we will have peaks and valleys along the way, but we will surely make it. If you have any sense, please don't give up on the Bearcats.