The Observer, April 21, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 25
It's now or never for track teams at home conference
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The All-Ohio men's and women's track meet last week showed one thing for certain: this year's Case track teams are better than last year's. Both teams experienced significant improvement versus last year.
The men's team finished 10th out of 21 teams this year after placing 14th last year, scoring 31 points versus last year's 18. Sixteen of this year's points came from one man – Alex Drollinger. Drollinger has been having a successful season in his throwing events, and All-Ohio was no different. He took first in the hammer throw, fifth in the discus, and then picked up two eighth place finishes in the shot put and the hammer throw.
Also contributing to the point total was Jason Dudas who finished fourth in the steeplechase. Stephen Hrinda came in second in the 5000, and Brandon Jeffries took seventh in the shot put to round out the men's scoring.
Paul Hannen has been pleased with the team's performance thus far and is looking forward to more.
"I think we have done very well and look forward to many great things," Hannen said.
The women have also been happy with their team's performance this season.
"I am very pleased with the improvement from the past years now that we actually have our own track to work on each day; however, we have not had much time to establish ourselves and steadily improve," Rachel Pope said. "With one of our outdoor meets being cancelled, only three meets is an extremely short outdoor season!"
Leading the women to a ninth place finish at All-Ohio last week, six places better than last year, was Esther Erb. Erb took third place in both the 1500 and the 5000. Emily Bruckner finished sixth in the 200 to add to the scoring. The other scorers were Alison Donnelly and Lauren von Eckartsberg in the steeplechase, Margaret Brennesholtz in the hammer throw, and Elizabeth Erhke taking third in the discus. Both the 4 by 400 and 4 by 100 teams placed as well.
Erb said that the improvement from 15th last year to ninth this year at All-Ohio "says we've gotten a lot better since last year."
This week the team competes in the UAA Championships being held on the Case track.
Pope is hopeful that the team has learned from past mistakes.
"We have strong athletes in most entries, but we have to really dig deep to score points this weekend," Pope said. "We don't want to repeat indoor where we'd have so many just barely missing the chance to move into finals. I have high hopes for the rest of our team that they have learned from indoor UAA's how important it is to get a good time and place in preliminaries so that we can actually compete in the finals."
Sarah Gill has set high goals for herself.
"I would like to P.R. at UAA's," Gill said. "I would also like to score for the team. I think as a team we would like to finish as high as possible and to beat NYU."
Brandon Jeffries goal for the men's team is a bold declaration.
"Nothing less than absolute victory is acceptable for both myself and the team," Jeffries said. "It has been too long, and I am sick of the rest of the teams in the conference looking down on CWRU and laughing. It is our turn to show them what Spartans are made of."
The teams are ready but there are still things that need to be worked on. Alex Drollinger said the team needs to improve "in between our ears. We have done the training, it's time to believe we can accomplish our goals."
They could have been better prepared in Alison Donnelly's view.
"As much as I like racing my teammates, I wish we would have seen more competition before our conference meet," Donnelly said.
With the meet being held at Case, some runners are hoping for some home track advantage. One of the benefits may be that they have practiced in the wind there because, since the track is only open in a gap on one end, then wind tends to blow hard in the runners' faces on the front stretch.
"We are getting used to our extremely windy track, although, I wish we did not have to worry about that," Pope said. "It will definitely be good to be somewhere we are familiar with and to be well rested since we don't have to travel."
All season long, the runners talk about UAA's being what really matters and that success there is the end goal.
"It's one of our most competitive meets of the whole season, and we are notorious for doing poorly, so we've got a lot of room for improvement, and a lot of low expectations to either fulfill or break," Erb said.
"It's the meet by which our entire season is judged," Drollinger added. "Enough said."
