All winter long, the Ohio indoor track team has competed with one eye fixed on the Mid-American Conference Championships.
Well, the time for the event finally came, and the Bobcats came in ninth out of 12 teams. Their finish fell short of the ultimate goal, said coach Clay Calkins.
We wanted to finish in the top half of the standings
Calkins said.
But even though we had a rough day on Friday we didn't give up. Saturday was much better for us.
Ohio's 26.5 points were 80.5 behind tournament winner Kent State, but there were several highlights to be happy about.
In Bahiyjaui Allen's last conference tournament, the thrower from Toledo took part in her usual two events. She might not have earned any points for her performance in the weight throw, but she did set herself apart in the shot put.
With a toss of 16.10 meters, Allen took first place in the shot put, earning 10 team points. Calkins said her performance set a school record and made her an NCAA qualifier.
Shortly after Allen's win, the Bobcats saw a few more points added to their score when Cathy Udeani tied for fourth in the high jump. Her best clearing, 1.69 meters, was good enough to earn 4.5 points for Ohio.
The success of those two athletes was not surprising. The two have anchored the team all year, leading by example and exhibiting consistence.
What might not have been expected, though, were the six points Kari Summers and Jenielle Hunt snagged in the 3000-meter run. Summers came in fourth place with a time of 10:06.98, while Hunt grabbed eighth at 10:09.65.
Summers' run added five points and Hunt's gave Ohio one.
In the next event, the 5000-meter run, Summers clocked in at 17:19.65, which was good enough for third place and six more team points.
Those two (Summers and Hunt) did a fantastic job for us Calkins said.
Jenielle had a rough day in the five
but she did well in the three.
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Sports
Mark Emery
