Melissa Wiley and the rest of her team will be focusing on technique this weekend at the nine-team Kenyon Classic.
Wiley said she will be competing in the 60-meter hurdles and possibly the 4x400-meter relay. The senior said the Bobcats are not necessarily worrying about wins or losses, however.
I would like to get my time down
Wiley said. But I think this weekend I'll just work on form to get ready (for the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships).
The MAC Indoor Championships are next weekend.
Coach Clay Calkins said that the competition is not as strong as the team has previously seen. Ohio won't see any other MAC teams.
This is a tune up Calkins said. We are just trying to get some technique work in. It's a close meet for us only an hour and 45 minutes up the road.
We are just trying to get a lot of technical aspects worked out.
The Bobcats said that they aren't feeling any pressure this weekend because winning is not the main goal.
(I want to) work on reaching my personal best this season, senior jumper and sprinter Brittany Vinson said. I just want to get up at my mark to know where I am going into next weekend.
Calkins will be resting the distance crew this weekend for the MAC Championships.
The Ohio coach did say that this is normal for the Bobcats.
That's the way we have set our training up, Calkins said. We haven't ran our distance crew pretty much every other week. It's all part of the distance training, and we have been strategic with meets, and hopefully it pays off at (the MAC Championships).
,",2,Sports,Robert Doll,27157a.jpg,An Ohio runner competes in a meet last year. The team competes this weekend in the Kenyon Classic before preparing for the MAC Indoor Championships.,",",",","
27156,2009-02-18 23:12:00,Softball: New coach brings successful streak back east to Ohio,New coach Jodi Hermanek comes to Ohio from Southern Utah. Hermanek brings a competitive approach to coaching the Bobcats
while also trying to teach her players as much as possible.,Just a glimpse at practice can give one a feel for Jodi Hermanek's coaching style.
Hermanek
who came to Ohio this summer after four years at Southern Utah University
is all business.
She's about getting the job done in practice, said junior first baseman Deanna Hartsough. She's very aggressive as a coach and always wants us in motion and not walking during practice.
Hermanek got the job after former coach Jill Matyuch left to work closer to home in southern California.
The first-year coach knew the opportunities that opened to her when she took the job.
I didn't think twice about it, Hermanek said. It was emotional and hard to say good-bye to my former team, but I was also eager and optimistic to start with a new page.
Hermanek said that the size and opportunities at a school like Ohio is what enticed her to take the job
even though she had built a solid program at Southern Utah.
Hermanek had led the Thunderbirds to two NCAA tournament appearances - the school's first-ever appearances in the tournament.
It's a promotion in all areas, Hermanek said. I see it as climbing higher on the ladder in the career path I hope to achieve.
One might think that a coaching change would cause some discord among the players
but the Bobcats have accepted Hermanek.
I was excited about it since we would be getting a younger coach to deal with us, said junior outfielder Shalene Petrich. Change can be good and she's already come in and made a difference already.
After doing so well at Southern Utah
Hermanek says she has high hopes for Ohio. She hopes to improve upon the Bobcats' Mid-American Conference Championship appearance last year.
This program is built on winning, Hermanek said. Since I've gotten here, I've stressed that we need to last until June, which is when postseason play begins.
It will be a challenge
but it's not unrealistic.
