Tigers Head Outdoors With Solid Performances At University Of CIncinnati And Indianapolis


Allison Walker

The Wittenberg men's and women's track and field teams have moved outdoors and have turned in solid performances at meets at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Indianapolis. Then last weekend, the Wittenberg Challenge Decathlon was completed in terrible weather, although the Ohio State Relays were called off due to snowfall in Columbus.

At the Bearcat Relays at Cincinnati, the Tigers' best finishers were freshman David Emrath (Lloyd, Ky./Elsmere) with a fourth place in the 400 meters and a sixth place in the high jump, sophomore Andy Karcher (Oceola, Ohio/Bucyrus Wynford) with a fourth in the hammer and sixth in the shot put, and freshman Nicole Bailey (Cincinati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) with a fourth place in the long jump, seventh in the 100 meters and second in the triple jump.

In the Jerry England Invitational at Indianapolis on March 26, the Tiger men placed fourth in a 10-team field and the women took fifth in an 8-team field as junior Anna Finkelstein (Whitehall, Mich./Reeths-Puffer) and freshman Mike Echols (Springfield, Ohio/North) swept the 800 meter events; Karcher scored and freshman Allison Walker (Columbus, Ohio/Academy) scored in three field events apiece and sophomore Mark O'Brien (Shavertown, Pa./Dallas Senior) won the javelin with a career-best throw of more than 160 feet.

Bailey and Walker were honored by the North Coast Athletic Conference on March 28 with Athlete of the Week honors for their performances in the first two outdoor meets.

Rounding things out, 12 hearty sportsmen braved tough weather conditions in the Wittenberg Challenge, and the top Tiger finisher was O'Brien in fifth place.

The Tigers have their longest road trip of the 2005 season this weekend with a journey to Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. It is the first of three straight weekend meets that will serve as the final tune-ups for the 2005 North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet April 29-30 at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Next: 4/9 @ Rhodes