Buckeyes Take NCAA Qualifying Hopes to Indianapolis – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Feb. 9, 2000
COLUMBUS,Ohio –
Buckeyes Focus on Strong Events
The Ohio State track team travels to Indianapolis, Ind. for Butler University’s Cannon IV Classic beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 11 and continuing at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12. Over 75 teams including, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan State and several World Class athletes, will be competing at the Classic. The throws and pole vault will take place at the SerVaas Fitness Center and the running events and jumps will be held at the National Institute for Fitness and Sport, both are located in downtown Indianapolis. The Buckeyes attending this meet are those who are most likely to compete at the Big Ten Championships on Feb. 26-27 at Indiana. “In order to stay focused, these athletes will only be performing in their strongest event(s),” Russ Rogers, head coach, said. “One of the main goals we have this weekend is to improve athletes’ seasonal bests to reach NCAA provisional or automatic qualifying times or distances.”
4×400 Relay Team Sets the Pace
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team is gaining strength every week. Last week they dominated the event with a first-place finish at the elite Millrose Games. The team is composed of Thomas Dickson, Joel Brown, Courtney Cornwall and anchor, Andrew Pierce. They will try to improve their provisional qualifying time of 3:09.88 to beat the automatic qualifying time of 3:06.88. “I was very impressed with their performance at the Millrose Games, and I feel that this weekend they have a very good chance of improving their time to the automatic mark,” Rogers said. Ohio State’s 4×400 relay team has a history of performing well at this meet. The 1999 (3:10.04) team holds the fourth and the 1998 (3:11.80) team holds the ninth fastest times recorded at this meet.
Buckeye’s Strengths
Andrew Pierce, who holds the meet’s 400-meter run record (46.12), will try this year to earn the NCAA automatic qualifying time of 46.32 or better. At the National Invitational, Pierce was very close to automatically qualifying with a time of 46.69. Dominque Calloway and Donica Merriman will return to action this weekend competing in the 60-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash and the 4×400. Both have NCAA provisional qualifying times in the 60 hurdles (Calloway 8.25 and Merriman 8.29) and will focus on reaching the automatic qualifying mark of 8.17 this weekend. Rogers said there is a good possibility of seeing the women’s 4×400 relay team in action at Indianapolis. The team will be composed of Mandy Osmond, Nicholette Chambers, Calloway, and either Molly Logan or Merriman.
Distance Runners have Momentum
The distance runners earned last weekend’s spotlight, with Ian Connor earning a provisional time in the 3,000-meter run (8:05.31), Rob Myers improved his personal record in the mile with a time of 4:07.31 at Kent State and David Gonzalez (4:13.49) and Mandy Osmond (5:00) placed first in the mile at Indiana. All will continue working to improve their times, as the Big Ten Championships grow closer. Despite her excellent performance in the mile, Osmond will return to her best event, the 800, for the remainder of the season.
Throwers Building Strength
All of the throwers will be competing at the Cannon IV Classic, but assistant coach, John Smith feels the Scarlet and Gray Invitational or the Big Ten Championships is when they will reach their personal bests. “Last week at Indiana, they gave solid performances, but they are lifting hard in preparation for the Big Ten Championships, so we probably won’t see any personal bests at Indianapolis,” Smith said.
Last Weekend’s Recap
Ohio State was well represented at the Millrose Games, Indiana Invitational and Kent State’s Golden Flash Open with many members placing first and improving their personal best times. The Buckeyes’ 4×400-meter relay team placed first at Friday’s 93rd annual Millrose Games held at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. The team earned the overall fastest time of 3:19.86 and was composed of Courtney Cornwall, Thomas Dickson, Joel Brown, and anchor, Andrew Pierce. The Buckeyes competed against Seton Hall, St. John’s, and Southern Connecticut. The relay team was honored by their invitation to the Millrose Games, which is the oldest invitational track meet in the United States and often regarded as the world’s greatest indoor track meet. The Buckeyes’ field events athletes and distance runners traveled to Bloomington, Ind. for today’s Indiana Invitational. The meet gave the Buckeyes many levels of competition as over 10 schools and numerous individuals competed. The women’s strongest event was the mile, as Mandy Osmond (5:00) placed first, and teammates Karyn Kelly (5:12.95) and Alexis Schulist (5:13.27) finished eighth and ninth. All three improved their seasonal best times. Rachel Zukowski set a new school record in the pole vault with a mark of 11’1-3/4? and she placed fourth in the event. Tami Smith finished fourth in the high jump clearing a height of 5’6?. The men also performed well in the mile with David Gonzalez finishing first with a time of 4:13.49 and J.J. O’Rielly (4:22.81) and Josh Folger (4:27.06) placed seventh and ninth. Other top performers included Andrew Saurer (53’05”), who placed third in the weight throw, and Corey Johnson, who placed third in the pole vault clearing a height of 15’5?. Ian Connor and Rob Myers traveled to Kent State and performed exceptionally at the Golden Flash Open. Connor placed first in the 3,000-meter run with a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 8:05.31. Myers placed second in the one-mile run with a season best time of 4:07.31.
Meet the Coach
In his 12 years at Ohio State, Russ Rogers has produced 100 Big Ten indoor and outdoor track and field champions, ten NCAA indoor and outdoor champions and 65 All-Americans. His 1993 teams alone produced 16 All-Americans and 12 Big Ten champions in both indoor and outdoor events. Rogers was recently chosen as the head coach of the national team that participated in the 1999 World Indoor Championships in Macbashi, Japan. Rogers has more than 30 years of head coaching experience in national and international track and field. His most recent experience was with the U.S. team at the 1994 Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was also the 1988 sprint coach for the U.S. Olympic Team which competed in Seoul, Korea, the 1987 coach of the World University Games team, the 1985-86 head coach of the U.S. track team and has numerous other coaching credentials. Rogers came to Ohio State from Fairleigh Dickinson University, located in Teaneck, N.J., where he was the head coach for both the men’s and women’s track and field and cross country teams for 10 years.
Next Week’s Action
Next week the Buckeyes return home to the French Field House for the Scarlet & Gray Invitational beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19. Ashland, Ball State and Troy State will be competing in the invitational. This will be the final invitational before the Big Ten Championships in Indiana on Feb. 26-27.
How Ohio State Compares to the Big Ten
The Big Ten Championships are two weeks away, and several Buckeyes are setting the standards with their times. At this point in the season, six Ohio State athletes hold Top 3 positions in comparison to other Big Ten athletes times.
Athlete School Event Time 1. Dominique Calloway Ohio State 60 Hurdles 8.25 2. Donica Merriman Ohio State 60 Hurdles 8.29
1. Dominque Calloway Ohio State 400 54.29
1. Aleisha Latimer Illinois 200 24.38 2. Dominque Calloway Ohio State 200 24.42
1. Andrew Pierce Ohio State 400 46.69 3. Courtney Cornwall Ohio State 400 47.43
1. Andrew Pierce Ohio State 600 1:18.16
1. Jay Cantin Michigan Mile 3:59.90 2. Rob Myers Ohio State Mile 4:07.31
1. Ian Conner Ohio State 3,000 8:05.31
1. Men’s 4×400 Ohio State 4×400 3:09.88
1. Men’s Distance Medly Ohio State Distance Medly 9:44.82
