The Observer, February 24, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 18
Bowhers sets a new school record at Greater Cleveland track meet
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The Spartan track teams continued their strong seasons at the 2006 Greater Cleveland College Meet at Baldwin-Wallace last Friday. The women finished fourth out of nine and the men took third out of eight.
Both teams came home with a solid collection of first place finishes. The women had five first places, four in individual events and one in a relay. The men had two individual wins and a relay victory.
For the men, Stephen Hrinda and Axel Riemer had victories in the 500 m and the 300 m, respectively. The team's distance medley relay won as well. Alex Drollinger finished second in both of the throwing event, shot put and weight throw. The men also completed the impressive feat of having seven of the top nine finishers in the 5000 m. Trevor Ilse had his best performance of the year thus far, finishing third in the 55 hurdles.
Desmond Ellis thinks the team is looking strong overall.
Kristen Bowhers lead the way for the women, setting a new school record in the 1000 with a time of 3:05.52. Rebecca Moore also brought home a first place, winning the 800 with a time just ahead of teammate Esther Erb, who finished second. For the sprint team, Emily Bruckner won in the 200 and Harmonie Foster took home first in the 400. The distance medley relay team won for the women to round out their five first place finishes.
Bowhers was pleased with her team's performance.
"We racked up a ton of points and had many first place finishers. I think it was a good meet," she said.
The team has experienced some injuries but are getting near the end of the season where the practices focus more on fixing the little things so the runners' legs are fresh for the races.
"We've been training very hard this season, and it is definitely taking a lot of wear on many of the athletes," Alyssa George said. "This week we will begin tapering for conference and hopefully beyond. This should improve everyone's times and distances greatly."
"Unfortunately, the places where we need to pick up points the most is also where our injuries are," Moore said.
This week's meet will be the Oberlin College Invitational on Friday. UAA Championships are a week from now, so runners will approach this week differently.
"All meets are important, but this is our last chance to work out the kinks," Paul Hannen said.
"For the middle distance and distance, we'll mostly be saving up for conference, especially since this meet is not terribly competitive," Erb said.
The women's distance medley relay has high hopes though.
"The DMR is looking better than we thought," Moore said. "As long as everyone runs their best time from the season thus far, we will be way under the NCAA provisional time."
Both teams are looking forward to their chance to compete at UAA's at University of Chicago.
Ellis likes the way the team has improved and has high hopes.
"The team is progressing perfectly," Ellis said. "At the moment, our team is exactly were it wants to be. The team is moving forward every week and it has been that way since our amazing performance at the outdoor championship last spring, at Washington University in St. Louis."
