BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College women's track and field team completed its sweep of the 2005 Ohio Athletic Conference Track & Field titles today (Saturday, May 7) when it won the OAC Outdoor title in Alliance, Ohio and at Mount Union College. The Yellow Jacket men finished fifth.
The Yellow Jacket women scored 165 points and outdistanced second place Otterbein College by 43 points. The B-W women had five individual champions and the 400 meter relay team also claimed victory. The B-W men scored 71 points and had two individual champs.
Highlighting the day for B-W was veteran Head Coach Bill Taraschke winning his 32nd career OAC Coach of the Year award. Taraschke has led the B-W cross country and track teams to 42 OAC titles during his career.
Leading the way for the Yellow Jacket women were its five individual champions in junior Mary Griglak (Berea/ Lutheran West), sophomore Kara Weaver (Myrtle Creek, Oregon/ South Umpqua), freshman Megan Cathcart (Parma/ Senior) and seniors Megan McDannel (Berea) and Jamie Luketic (Rootstown).
Griglak won the OAC indoor title in the 400 meter dash in 58.90 seconds and completed her sweep of the 2005 OAC indoor and outdoor titles in that event. In addition, Griglak, the 2004 OAC champ outdoors in the 200 meter dash, ran on the winning and NCAA Division III national qualifying 400 meter relay team along with Weaver, senior Jayna Rasmussen (Westlake/ Lutheran West) and junior Liz Redd (Canton/ GlenOak). In addition to running on the relay team, Weaver won the long jump with a B-W school-record and improved NCAA qualifying leap of 19-feet and one and one-quarter inches. Also, Cathcart won the high jump with an NCAA qualifying leap of 5'5.25", McDannel won the discus with a career-best throw of 133'6" and Luketic won the 10,000 meter run with a career-best time of 39:14.63.
For the men, senior Jon Shoffstall (Lakeview/ Indian Lake) and freshman Jim Roy (West Simsbury, Conn./ Simsbury) each won titles and bettered qualified for the NCAA Division III national meet. Shoffstall, who is qualified in both the hammer and discus, won the discus with a career-best throw of 159'3". Roy won the javelin with a career-best throw of 200'5".
The Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships will take place from May 26-28 held at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.
The Yellow Jacket track teams will be back in action on Saturday, May 14 when they host the Ohio Collegiate Meet at The George Finnie Stadium at 8:00 a.m. In addition, B-W will host its annual Heptathlon-Decathlon Meet on May 17-18 as part of the its annual Twilight Invitational Meet. The Twilight Meet takes place on Friday, May 20 at Finnie Stadium.
FOR MORE B-W SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact B-W SID Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu.
2005 Ohio Athletic Conference
Track & Field Championships at Mount Union College
Mt. Union Stadium; Alliance, Ohio
How They Finished: 1. Baldwin-Wallace College, 165; 2. Otterbein College, 122; 3. Mount Union College, 113; 4. John Carroll University, 98; 5. Ohio Northern University; 82; 6. Capital University, 73; 7. Wilmington College, 56; 8. Heidelberg College, 36; 9. Muskingum College, 31; 10. Marietta College, 4.
Women's Individual Winners: 100 Meter Dash: Betse Johnson (Wilmington), 12.44; 200 Meter Dash: Emily Lehman (Capital), 25.37; 400 Meter Dash: Mary Griglak (Baldwin-Wallace), 58.90; 800 Meter Run: Shannon McConville (John Carroll), 2:20.07; 1500 Meter Run: Shannon McConville (John Carroll), 4:44.30; 10000 Meter Run: Jamie Luketic (Baldwin-Wallace), 39:14.63; 100 Meter Hurdles: Kelli Peirano (Otterbein), 14.86; 400 Meter Hurdles: Lauren Ernst (Ohio Northern), 1:04.11; 3000 Meter Steeplechase: Ellie Fernandez (John Carroll), 11:14.77; 400 Meter Relay: Baldwin-Wallace (Griglak, Redd, Rasmussen, Weaver), 48.47; 3200 Meter Relay: John Carroll (Fernandez, Gilloon, Balzano, McConville), 9:27.82; 1600 Meter Relay: Ohio Northern (Ernst, Dittmar, Erb, Sisler), 4:04.44; High Jump: Megan Cathcart (Baldwin-Wallace), 5' 5.25"; Long Jump: Kara Weaver (B-W), 19' 1.25"; Triple Jump: Doreen Nagawa (Wilmington), 39' 11.25"; Shot Put: Jamie Eastham (Muskingum), 45' 4.25" ; Discus: Megam McDannel (Baldwin-Wallace), 133' 6"; Pole Vault: Alysha Gossel (Otterbein), 11'9"; Javelin: Krysta Douds (Otterbein), 125'11" ; Hammer: Erin Klenk (Muskingum), 142'10".
SPECIAL AWARDS: Marcia French Most Outstanding Track Athlete........ Shannon McConville (John Carroll); The Most Outstanding Field Event Athlete........Jamie Eastham (Muskingum); Coach of the Year....... Bill Taraschke (Baldwin-Wallace)
How They Finished: 1. Mount Union College, 175; 2. Otterbein College, 100; 3. Ohio Northern University, 87; 4. Wilmington College, 85; 5. Baldwin-Wallace, 75; 6. Heidelberg College, 74; 7. Capital University, 68; 8. John Carroll University, 61; 9. Muskingum College, 42; 10. Marietta College, 17.
Men's Individual Winners: 100 Meter Dash: Jon Biakofsky (Mount Union), 10.45; 200 Meter Dash: Jon Biakofsky (Mount Union), 21.47; 400 Meter Dash: Marque Jones (Wilmington), 48.65; 800 Meter Run: Ryan Garro (Mount Union), 1:53.31; 1500 Meter Run: Jeremy Velliquette (Mount Union), 3:59.68; 10000 Meter Run: Mike Sawicki (Otterbein), 31:59.55; 110 Meter High Hurdles: Matt Cole (Mount Union), 14.53; 400 Meter Hurdles: Chad Neusmeyer (Muskingum), 54.24; 3000 Meter Steeplechase: Greg Zumberger (Heidelberg), 9:45.83; 400 Meter Relay: Mount Union (Salupo, Cole, Cunningham, Biakofsky), 41.52; 1600 Meter Relay: Wilmington (Wilkerson, Morrow, Crutchfield, Jones), 3:18.21; 3200 Meter Relay: John Carroll (Juker, Adams, Charillo, Hoban), 7:45.90; High Jump: Chris Sprowl (Wilmington), 6'7"; Long Jump: Marque Jones (Wilmington), 23' 3.5"; Triple Jump: Bobby Jones (Capital), 47' 4.25"; Shot Put: Justin Archer (Mount Union), 52' 0.5"; Discus: Jon Shoffstall (Baldwin-Wallace), 159'3"; Pole Vault: Chris Swanson (OTT) 17'0"; Javelin: Jim Roy (Baldwin-Wallace), 200' 5"; Hammer: Jason Horn (Ohio Northern), 183' 5".
SPECIAL AWARDS: Jim Wuske Most Outstanding Track Athlete........Jon Biakofsky (Mount Union); Sparky Adams Most Outstanding Field Event Athlete........Bobby Jones (Capital); Coach of the Year....... John Homan (Mount Union)
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