Matt Locke
The Wittenberg University men's and women's track and field
teams put together a strong performance at the annual North Coast
Athletic Conference Indoor Relays, hosted by Wabash College last
Saturday. The Tiger men finished fourth, while the women came in
fifth - but just eight points out of third.
There were several individual highlights worth noting, starting on
the men's side where senior Skip Ivery (Columbus,
Ohio/Groveport-Madison) posted a winning time of 7.70 in
the 55-meter hurdles, good for an NCAA Division III Provisional
qualifying standard. He teamed with sophomore Matt Locke
(South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) added a
personal-best time of 7.99, which combined with Ivery's time to win
the 55-meter hurdles relay in meet-record time of 15.69. The old
record of 15.85 was set by Wittenberg's Dwight Carter and Aaron
Manse in 1994.
Ivery and Locke were named NCAC Track and Field Athletes of the
Week for their performance.
The Tigers' other men's relay title was earned in the triple jump
relay courtesy of junior Joe Rumschlag (Maumee, Ohio/Toledo
Christian), who turned in a season-best mark of 41 feet,
4.5 inches, and senior Tim Gaal (Amanda,
Ohio/Clearcreek), who had a personal-best mark of 40-10.75
in his first triple jump competition ever.
Rumschlag and Gaal joined forces with sophomore Tom Smith
(Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) to place third in the long jump
relay. Smith had a personal-best mark of 17-0, Rumschlag had a
season-best mark of 21-6.5 and Gaal added a jump of 18-8. Sophomore
Adam Stone (Bucyrus, Ohio/Bucyrus) and junior
Clyde Mayer (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) were second
in the shot put relay. And sophomore Jason Toman
(Greenville, Ohio/Greenville), junior Chad Kresser
(Findlay, Ohio/Findlay), senior Alex Yurovitsky
(Richmond Heights, Ohio/Lyndhurst Brush) and Rumschlag
teamed up in the 4 x 400 relay to place second.
On the women's side, two performances stood out above the crowd. In
particular, the sprint medley relay quartet of junior Tina
Valerius (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame), freshman
Jessica McClish (Shelby, Ohio/Shelby), freshman
Antonette Green (Cleveland, Ohio/Euclid) and senior Kelly
Zilli (Dayton, Ohio/Kettering Alter) won in a meet and
school-record time of 4:22.57.
In recognition of their outstanding performance, Valerius, McClish,
Green and Zilli were awarded NCAC Track and Field Athletes of the
Week.
Also of note, the 4 x 400 relay foursome of sophomore Anna
Finkelstein (Whitehall, Mich./Reeths-Puffer), Zilli,
McClish and Green took second place in a time of 4:14.24.
Next: 2/7 at DePauw, 11 a.m.