Ohio State Track and Field Begins Outdoor Season – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
March 20, 2000
Excited about Outdoor Opener
Ohio State’s track teams open their outdoor season on Friday and Saturday, March 24-25 at the Baldy Castillo Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. Both teams are coming off a strong finish in the indoor season and hope to continue their momentum outdoors. Several members of each team traveled to Tempe on March 14 to spend the week training for this weekend’s Invitational.
“We’re using this week in Arizona to help us adjust to the outdoor conditions,” head coach Russ Rogers said. “Everyone is very excited about starting the outdoor season and this week’s practice should help us do very well at the Invitational.”
Buckeyes Look to Build on Indoor Success
Both teams showed many improvements in the final weeks of the indoor season. Most athletes improved their seasonal best times at the Big Ten and NCAA Indoor Championships.
Andrew Pierce and Donica Merriman showed their strongest carer performances at the NCAA Championships, breaking three school records and earning three Top 4 finishes. Both Pierce and Merriman along with Ian Connor and Dominque Calloway can be expected to stay strong for the outdoor season. Senior CarylAnn Reece returns for the outdoor season and can be expected to show strong performances in many areas.
Freshmen Joel Brown, Rob Myers, Mandy Osmond, Molly Logan, Erin Carter and Nicholette Chambers’ strengths were displayed during the indoor season and the experience they gained will help them excel through the outdoor season.
Next Week’s Action
The teams are taking next weekend off from competition to continue adjusting athletically to the outdoor surfaces and weather and academically to the beginning of spring quarter classes. They will compete again on April 7-8 at the Cal-Berkley Invitational.
Meet the Coach
In his 12 years at Ohio State, Russ Rogers has produced 100 Big Ten indoor and outdoor track and field champions, te
