Merriman and Pierce Named Big Ten Track and Field Athletes of the Year – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 25, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State’s track and field dynamic duo, Donica Merriman (Jr., Trotwood, Ohio/Trotwood Madison) and Andrew Pierce (Jr., Yellow Springs, Ohio/Yellow Springs) were both named the Big Ten Track and Field Athletes of the Year. Rob Myers (Fr., Rushville, Ohio/Fairfield Union) was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the conference announced yesterday.
Merriman and Pierce are the first athletes in Ohio State history to ever receive the honor of Athlete of the Year. Both also received the Outstanding Performer of the 2000 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 19-21. Merriman is the fifth athlete in Big Ten History to receive the Outstanding Performer of the Championships award for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Merriman and Pierce currently hold times ranking them in the Top 3 around the nation. Merriman’s fastest time this season in the 100-meter hurdles came on April 29 at the Penn Relays when she won the event with the world’s second fastest time this season, 12.70.
Throughout the outdoor season, Pierce was named Big Ten Athlete of the Week once and Merriman twice.
Merriman led the Buckeyes to a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, their highest finish in Ohio State history. She won three events, the 100-meter hurdles (12.89, NCAA Automatic Qualifying), 100-meter dash (11.35, NCAA Provisional Qualifying), in which she also tied the school record set by Nicole Carmichael on May 24, 1997, and the 200-meter dash (23.32, NCAA Provisional Qualifying). She also anchored the winning 4×400-meter relay team (3:37.24, NCAA Provisional Qualifying) and the third-place 4×100-meter relay team (44.76, NCAA Provisional Qualifying).
“I was very impressed with Donica’s performance,” head coach Russ Rogers said. “We all knew she was capable of having that strong of a performance, and we are very proud of her.”
At the Big Ten Championships, Pierce won the 400-meter dash with a time of 44.87, breaking the meet record set in 1987 by Butch Reynolds (Ohio State), 45.00. He also anchored the first-place 4×400-meter relay team (3:05.80). He ran his fastest time of the season in the 200, 20.95, earning second-place.
“We have been waiting all season for Pierce to explode, and at the Big Ten’s that is exactly what he did,” Rogers said. “He has come so close to reaching NCAA automatic qualifying times all season, and he finally showed his capabilities.”
“It is a large accomplishment to win an event at the Big Ten Championships, but to win an event your freshman year is an unbelievable feat,” assistant coach John Smith said.
In his first year of facing athletes on the college level, Myers ran like an expert and won the 1,500-meter run at the Big Ten Championships with the time of 3:46.47.
“Rob hasn’t had a bad race all year, not just in outdoor, but in cross country and indoor,” said assistant coach Robert Gary. “He is a real competitive athlete and it is going to be fun working with him for the next three years.”
Merriman and Pierce have both automatically qualified to compete in the NCAA Championships in Durham, N.C., May 31-June 3.
–GO BUCKS–
