There was no storybook ending in Oxford this weekend.
The Ohio men's track and field team finished sixth out of seven teams in its final Mid-American Conference
Championships.
It's bittersweet
said freshman sprinter Curtis Leuenberger, who provided two of the Bobcats' best showings with his fifth-place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter finals. I made a lot of friends in the MAC and I won't see them much after this year.
The men's team sends Brian King to regional competition after he completed Friday's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:03.01, good enough for fourth place.
Ohio was missing the services of sprinter Scott Mayle, but his absence allowed Leuenberger and Chris Garrett to step up in his place. Garrett came in seventh in the 100-meter, crossing the finish line just under .2 seconds after Leuenberger.
(The team) definitely pulled together and (Mayle's absence) gave other people some opportunities Leuenberger said. Everybody did their part
and Chris did great in the 100- meter.
The Bobcats scored 44 points, just one more than last-place Miami. Eastern Michigan won the title with 182 points and barely beat Akron, who came in second with 181.
Women improve greatly
The Bobcat women finished sixth as well, a vast improvement from their 11th-place finish a year ago.
We did a lot better than last year
said thrower Chelsea Stephan. It was good to see us score some more points this year.
For the second straight week, Stephan and fellow thrower
Bahiyjuai Allen hit regional marks in their respective events.
It's a pretty good feeling
and I'm glad to do it again
said Stephan, who came in second in the javelin. I look forward to competing in regionals.
Allen was excited over her second-place finish in the
shot put.
I'm really happy about it
she said. My preliminary throws weren't that good
but once I got to the finals
I was pushing a lot harder
and it worked out.
Kari Summers was the lone Bobcat to win an event Saturday, taking the 5,000-meter run. She finished third in the 1,500-meter race.
Ohio scored 60 points on the weekend, 25 more than they scored last year. Akron won the MAC title with 154 points, and Western Michigan came in second with 135.
