Bobcat jumper Scott Mayle added to his already impressive athletic resume at Ohio with a victory in the long jump during the Mid-American Conference Championship this past weekend in Toledo.
However, both Bobcat teams finished second-to-last in the conference despite improvement on both sides from the indoor season. The Ohio men finished with 54 points, good for sixth place overall, and the Bobcat women's team landed in 11th with 35 points, missing 10th place by half a point.
We were happy with the performances
coach Clay Calkins said. We finished with more points than I thought we would.
Central Michigan won the men's title with 176.5 points while Akron's women's team became champions after recording 141 points.
Most importantly on the weekend for the Bobcats, the women's team notched two regional qualifiers, bringing Ohio's total to five for the season.
Jessica Kestler qualified in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.99 seconds. Her third place finish netted six points for Ohio. Chelsea Stephan finished fourth in the javelin throw to earn a trip to regionals.
The top finisher for the Ohio women was Carime Reinhart. She finished second in the 10,000-meter race and fifth in the 5,000-meter race.
In the field events, Jaclyn Lugaila, Rachael Diehl and Brittany Vinson, joining Stephan, recorded top-eight finishes. Lugaila finished sixth in the hammer throw and fourth in the shot put. Diehl took eighth in the pole vault, and Vinson grabbed the eighth spot in the long jump.
In addition to his first-place leap of 25 feet, which netted 10 points for the Bobcat men's team, Mayle also placed fourth in the 100-meter dash.
Obviously winning in the MAC is very special and he's getting good at it
Calkins said.
The distance squad for the Ohio men chipped in 17 points with Jason Linton, Austin Schiele and Brian King all contributing.
We all worked incredibly well together
Schiele said. In the 5K
it was probably the best ran team race I've ever been a part of.
The sprinters also had numerous athletes place in the top-eight. John Willis took third in the 400-meter dash, finishing two places ahead of teammate Dan Bailey. Jarrel Taylor netted a seventh-place finish in the 200-meter dash, and Chip Cox added a seventh place finish in the 100-meter dash.
In the field events, Jeremy Keesee and Jordan Sharpe finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in the high jump. Tyler Edwards earned eighth place in the long jump.
Mayle, long jump; Lugaila, shot put and hammer throw; King, 3000-meter steeplechase; Kestler, 400-meter hurdles; Stephan, javelin, must now wait two weeks before they represent Ohio at the NCAA Regional meet in Knoxville, Tenn.
17
Archives
Josh Johnson
