By Jenia Freewalt
Bluffton University sports information assistant

CINCINNATI--On Saturday, Feb. 11, the Bluffton University track and field team traveled to Cincinnati to compete at the indoor facility on the campus of Mount St. Joseph University. The Beavers were back on the track after having to take a weekend off due to illness.

FIELD EVENTS
In the men's weight throw, senior Henry Wright (Wooster) set a big PR of 14.02 meters which landed him in 5th place. Senior Michael Lindhorst (Lindsey/Woodmore) placed 7th with a throw of 13.23 meters. On the women's side, junior Maggie Hartzler (Rittman/Norwayne) earned a PR of 12.10 meters.

Junior Markus Finley secured 8th place in the shot put with a throw of 13.26m.

Assistant Coach Stephanie Fox commented on the athlete's performances, saying, "I'm happy with everyone's performance this past Saturday. While not as many throwers PR'd, every single one of them showed me a competitive spirit. It was also great to see that for many of them, the technique was starting to click. I think they are starting to realize what they need to do to have those big throws!"

In the high jump, sophomore Kyle Manns (Ottoville) earned silver with a jump of 1.90 meters. Sophomore Olivia Rider (Celina) placed 5th with a leap of 1.45 meters.

TRACK EVENTS
In the men's 3k race, sophomore Braeden Horn (Galion) set a new PR of 9:39 and finished in 8th place. Following closely behind him was sophomore Cole Kropka (New London), finishing in 9th place with a time of 9:42. Junior Alex Montross (Perrysburg) set a new season best, finishing with a time of 9:58.

In the women's 3k race, junior Jenia Freewalt (Delphos/St. John's) set a PR for the first time since her freshman year, coming across the line with a time of 11:54 while placing 4th overall.

Assistant Coach Connor Gulick, who works closely with the distance athletes, commented on the day by saying, "I thought we had a solid meet overall. Being able to see where conference will be is going to help in two weeks when we come back. I think some people were on the verge of a breakout, and we just missed the train. It will be exciting to see once we can put it together."

For the sprints group, Head Coach Ben Markison said that while the track was slow, the sprinters did well. In the men's 400 meters, sophomore Russell Lough (Wintersville/Indian Creek) placed 2nd overall, with a time of 52.33, followed by sophomore Jayden McConnell (Sunbury/Big Walnut) who took 3rd with a quick time of 53.05! In the women's 400 meter race, sophomore Kailea Greathouse-Kerr (Manchester, Ind.) finished 10th with a time of 1:05.

Junior Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton) took home gold in the men's 60 meter hurdles, crossing the line with a time of 8.48.

In the women's 60 meter dash, senior Madalynn Schifer (Bucyrus) placed 4th, flying across the finish with a time of 8.37.

The Bluffton men's relay teams had an extraordinary day, showing their hard work this season by taking 1st place in both the 4x200 (Malik Waters (Lima/Perry), Russell Lough, Jayden McConnell, Desmond Gist) with a time of 1:35.32, as well as the 4x400 (Blayden McCoy (Fresno/Ridgewood), Simon Shawk (Galion), Russell Lough and Jayden McConnell), shattering the competition with a time of 3:32.23!

When the final scores were tallied, the men's team finished 3rd, while the women's team placed 9th.

Coach Markison commented on Blufton's overall performance by saying, "The team as a whole did a great job of competing within their events plus with the conference championship being held at MSJ, it gave us a great opportunity to get a feel for the facility."

The Beavers compete one final time at the University of Findlay, at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, before the HCAC Championships on Saturday, Feb. 25.