Geri Woessner
The Tiger track teams had high hopes heading into the NCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. While both did well, the men lapped the field, winning their first conference title since 1997. The women wound up fifth.
The men's championship, which came on the heels of last year's second-place finish and the 2002 indoor championship second-place finish, was won primarily on the strength of four individuals. Senior Brian Gehle (Huntsville, Ohio/Indian Lake), sophomore Tim Gaal (Amanda, Ohio/Clearcreek), freshman Joe Rumschlag (Maumee, Ohio/Toledo Christian) and sophomore Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) each scored at least 18 points in the meet, not including relays.
Gehle, who also scored more than 20 points in last year's conference meet, won the decathlon and finished second in the pole vault, third in the long jump and fifth in the 400 meters. Already with a team-best 28 individual points, Gehle also was a member of the 4x400-meter relay team that finished second to score the team eight points. He is a provisional NCAA qualifier in the decathlon.
Rumschlag was next on the Tigers with 27 points. He finished second in the long jump, fourth in the 100, third in the 200 and second in the triple jump. He was also a member of the first-place 4x100 relay team.
Gaal scored 18 points for the team, placing second in the decathlon and first in the javelin. His throw of 206 feet in the javelin was good for an NCAC and Wittenberg school record, as well as automatic qualification in the NCAA Division III Championship meet on May 23-25 in St. Paul, Minn. Gaal is currently the only Tiger track athlete, male of female, to qualify for the national meet.
Ivery won the 110 high hurdles, giving him a sweep of the event for the 2002 season. Ivery has won the indoor title each of the last two years, but he finished third in the outdoor event in 2001. He also added a third-place finish in the 400 intermediate hurdles and a seventh-place finish in the 100. Ivery is provisionally qualified for the national meet in the high hurdles.
Sophomore Joel Drake (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) scored 10 points for the Tigers by winning an NCAC title in the discus, finishing with a throw of 148-11. Senior Chris Silliman (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) made it a Wittenberg sweep in the discus with a second-place finish. In addition, freshman Tim Nguyen (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) chipped in with a fourth in the discus and a fourth in the shot put.
Coach Shutt
In the hurdles, sophomore Derek Thompson (South Charleston, Ohio/Greenon) turned in a second in the 400 intermediates and a fourth in the 100 highs. And the Tigers' other top-four finish was turned in by a pair of aforementioned relays. The 4x100 relay quartet of Rumschlag, sophomore Alex Yurovitsky (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Richmond Heights), junior Mark Trempe (Springfield, Ohio/St. Paris Graham) and senior Jason Jackson (Columbus, Ohio/South) finished first. The 4x400 relay foursome of sophomore Mike Torsell (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central), sophomore Demetrius Ellison (Cleveland, Ohio/Trinity), Gehle and Trempe wound up second.
On the women's side, the highlight of the meet was sophomore Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), who repeated as the NCAC Field Events Athlete of the Year. She scored a team-best 30 points by finishing first in the heptathlon with a school-record and NCAA provisional qualifying 4176 points, third in the javelin, second in the shot put, third in the long jump and running on the second-place 4x400 relay.
Two other women earned All-NCAC honors, which are awarded for top-three finishes. Sophomore Kelly Zilli (Dayton, Ohio/Kettering Alter) finished third in the 1500 and fourth in the 800, after turning in the fastest time of the meet in the qualifying race. Senior Sarah Weide (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) finished third in the 800. Both were member of the 4x400 relay, which was rounded out by freshman Marissa Davoll (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson).
The other high-scoring member of the team was sophomore Kristen Mumper (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian), who scored 15 points with a fifth in the triple jump, fifth in the 400, fourth in the long jump and seventh in the 100.
Finally, Wittenberg Mens and Womens Track & Field Head Coach Steve Shutt was named 2002 NCAC Coach of the Year for mens track after his team romped to the championship by 44 points over defending champion Ohio Wesleyan. It was his first such honor.