April 2, 2017
WESTERVILLE, Ohio - On a cold, damp Saturday more suited to lobster fishing off the coast of Maine, the Bluffton University track and field team continued to hone their skills in preparation for the upcoming All-Ohio and HCAC Conference championship meets.
While conditions may have been fairly well-suited for distance running, they were less than ideal for sprinting, jumping and throwing. Despite that, there were a number of quality performances. On the track, sophomore Michelle Kelsey (South Whitley, Ind./Whitko) continued to show the fruits of her consistent mileage with a PR in the 5,000 meter race of well over a minute. The men’s 4 x 400 meter relay consisting of junior Kyle Knezovich (Utica), freshman Stanley Williams (Sterling Heights, Mich./Chippewa Valley), sophomore Quincy Salcido (Van Wert) and senior Jack Fisher (Norwalk/St. Paul) posted a season-best time to place 4th from the slow heat. Earlier in the day Fisher came home 2nd in a field of 23 in the 1500 meters race. Finally, in the men’s 5k, freshman Bradley Hardesty (Martinsburg/Utica) made his debut and ran a credible sub-17 minute.
In the field events, freshman Stanley Williams had the second best jump of the day in long jump and sophomore vaulter Sarah Oliver (Lexington) PR’d, with her first 10’ clearance while a number of throwers saw improved best marks as well. Freshmen John Jones (Cincinnati/Walnut Hills) and Liam Hoppe (Greenwood Twp., MI/Yale) got it done in the shot put while sophomore Maelinn Delong (Archbold/Bryan) PR’d in hammer. In his final week of preparation for the upcoming decathlon, junior Kyle Knezovich took on shot, discus and javelin, producing a respectable trio of marks, especially in javelin where his effort placed him 2nd in the field of 14.
“We have had across the board, two strong weekends in a row to open the season,” said Head Coach Karen Brandt, “plus the quality 10k running we saw Friday night. We were due for an ‘off’ weekend where we just weren’t hitting those highs we had been. Some of it was no doubt the weather, some was the workload that is needed for continued improvement. At any rate, we are doing what we need to do in workouts and meets to continue toward our goals.”
The Beavers will compete this upcoming weekend in the Marv Frye Invitational at Ohio Wesleyan University. Throws will begin Friday, April 7 at 3 p.m. The meet will resume Saturday, April 8 with field events at noon and track events at 2 p.m.
Kyle Knezovich will compete in the All-Ohio Multi-Event championship at Muskingum University on Saturday and Sunday, April 8 and 9 where he will take on the 10 events of the decathlon. Saturday starts at 11:45 a.m. with the 100 meters and continue throughout the day with long jump, shot put, high jump and the 400 meters. Sunday competition resumes at 10:30 a.m. with the 110 meter hurdles followed throughout the day with discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1500 meters.
-BEAVERS-
