April 6, 2015
DELAWARE, Ohio - The Bluffton Beaver track & field team continued its outdoor campaign at the Marv Frye Invitational this past Saturday, April 4, at Ohio Wesleyan University. The meet was great preparatory competition for this Saturday’s All-Ohio Championship but it also produced many high quality performances in and of itself.
Sophomore Trey Everett (Sidney/Fairlawn) extended his winning ways with first place finishes in both the long and high jump. His 7.00 meter long jump (22’ 2.75”) was an outdoor season best and elevates him nicely on the NCAA Division III national list. Senior Jeff Parker (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) continued his fine javelin throwing with another 50.00 meter plus toss, good for third place. Freshman Sarah Hunter’s (Mt. Blanchard/Riverdale) education in 800 meter racing had yet another new lesson in the ferocity of collegiate competition. In a race that went out very fast, Hunter maintained her composure and netted a quality third place in a very talented and mature field.
The day also saw many big personal best performances among the Beavers. On the track, freshman Chris Tatom (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) improved his 5000 meter PR by nearly 30 seconds; sophomore Shawn Campo (Galion) dropped nearly 10 seconds from his recently-established 1500 meter best; and freshman Alissa Hauke (Hillsboro) set a high quality debut time in the mid-19:00’s in the 5000 meter race. In the men’s pole vault, freshman Kyle Knezovich (Utica) cleared a personal-best 14’ 00” for 3rd place, then quickly followed up with another quality set of intermediate hurdles on the track. Junior Edgar Gonzalez (Melvindale, Mich./Melvindale) returned to form in throwing events, getting the hammer out 47.78 meters (156’ 09”) for a new PR, good for 7th in a field of 39. Gonzalez, along with Parker and freshman D’Nae Reese (Columbus/Upper Arlington), also saw their outdoor shot put campaign finally take a step forward with season bests for each.
“The team’s performances overall are starting to come around,” said Head Coach Karen Brandt, “But we still need to see that across-the-board, ‘Wow, we had a great meet’ like we were doing indoors. It is some solace that I look at results and by and large most teams seem to be having the same experience, that there aren’t a lot of really great performances yet. It has been a cold spring so far, with few if any ideal conditions, so hopefully we’ll all start to see a blossoming of our athletes soon.”
Competition continues for the thinclads on Saturday, April 11, again at Ohio Wesleyan University, host of the All-Ohio Championship meet.
-BEAVERS-
