Kelly Zilli
The Tiger track and field teams continue to run strong heading into the meat of the spring schedule. Last weekend at the Gerald England Invitational at the University of Indianapolis, the Tigers were sixth out of 18 teams on the men's side and seventh of 14 teams on the women's.
Making those strong finishes possible were a slew of outstanding individual performances. On the men's side, there were several personal best, highlighted by the performance of senior Chris Silliman (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and sophomore Joel Drake (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) in the discus. Silliman finished second with a throw that topped his previous best by more than 10 feet, while Drake was third with a throw that topped his previous best by more than 10 feet as well. Silliman's throw was good for provisional NCAA Division III qualification, the Tigers' first such mark in the outdoor season.
Chris Silliman
The other top men's performance was turned in by freshman Joe Rumschlag (Maumee, Ohio/Toledo Christian), who bettered his previous best in the triple jump by more than two feet in capturing first place in the event. He was the team's lone champion in the meet that was primarily attended by teams in higher scholarship divisions.
Other men's personal bests were sophomore Tim Gaal (Amanda, Ohio/Clearcreek) in the 110-meter hurdles and discus, junior T.J. Falzone (Coverton, Conn.) in the long jump and triple jump, freshman Chris Waddle (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon) in the shot put, freshman Tim Nguyen (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) in the hammer and freshman Dorian Dixon (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) in the hammer.
Tim Gaal
On the women's side, several personal bests were recorded by sophomore Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), managed a mark of 16-3.5 in the long jump, and freshman Hillary Brotzman (Madison, Ohio/The Andrews School) in the 100 and 200. Sophomore Kelly Zilli (Dayton, Ohio/Kettering Alter) and senior Sarah Weide (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) were as strong as usual in just missing their top times in the 800 and 1500.
In news that came out too late for last week's release, Silliman, Zilli and sophomore Kristen Mumper (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) were all named NCAC Athletes of the Week for March 25 after their performances in a meet at Defiance on March 23.