Six Buckeyes will Compete at NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/31/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 31, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – %^$
%^$Ready to Show Their Strength%^$
%^$This week, six of Ohio State’s track and field athletes will have the chance to show the nation their capabilities by earning the chance to compete in the 2000 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Durham, N.C., at the Wallace Wade Stadium from May 31-June 3. The championships are hosted by Duke University and complete results can be found by logging on to www.ncaachampionships.com.%^$
%^$Donica Merriman (Jr., Trotwood, Ohio/Madison-Trotwood), 200-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles, Dominque Calloway (Sr., Auroa, Colo./Denver South), 100 and 400-meter hurdles, Ayanna Reece (Sr., Bronx, N.Y./George Washington), 400-meter hurdles, Andrew Pierce (Jr., Yellow Springs, Ohio/Yellow Springs), 400-meter run, Ian Connor (Jr., Lexington, Ohio/Northmor Local), 3,000-meter steeplechase and George Hoover (Fr., Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep), javelin, have all qualified for this year’s championships.%^$
%^$All of them have reached their seasonal goal of competing at the NCAA championships. In every practice and in every meet, this championship was in their mind, motivating them to train harder in order to have the opportunity to compete against the nation’s best track and field athletes. Now that they have reached their goal of qualifying, it is now their turn to show the nation the speeds that they are capable of running.%^$
%^$Both Merriman and Pierce currently hold Top 3 times in the nation. Merriman’s fastest time this season in the 100-meter hurdles came on April 29 at the Penn Relays when she won the event with the world’s second fastest time this season, 12.70.%^$
%^$Merriman led the Buckeyes to a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships by winning three events, 100-meter hurdles, 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. She also anchored the winning 4×400-meter relay and the third-place 4×100-meter relay. Her championship performance earned her the honor of Outstanding Performer of the Championships. She also received this honor at the 2000 Big Ten Indoor Championships. Because of her phenomenal year, she was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year.%^$
%^$”I was very impressed with Donica’s performance,” head coach Russ Rogers said. “We all knew she was capable of having that strong of a performance, and we are very proud of her.”%^$
%^$At the Big Ten Championships, Pierce won the 400-meter dash with a time of 44.87, breaking the meet record set in 1987 by Butch Reynolds (Ohio State), 45.00. Pierce’s time now puts him third in the nation. He also anchored the first-place 4×400-meter relay team. His performance also earned him the honor of Outstanding Performer of the Championships and he too was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year.%^$
%^$”We have been waiting all season for Pierce to explode, and at the Big Ten’s that is exactly what he did,” Rogers said. “He has come so close to reaching NCAA automatic qualifying times all season, and he finally showed his capabilities.”%^$
%^$Calloway has reached automatic qualifying times in the 100 hurdles five times this season and she has provisionally qualified in the 400-meter hurdles three times. Since this is her senior year, the championships will be her last time running for Ohio State, and it will be the final time the tandem of Calloway and Merriman will be racing across the hurdles as Ohio State teammates. However, the whole world could see the two racing for the United States in Sydney if they qualify in the Olympic Trials in July.%^$
%^$The championships will also be Reece’s final competition for the Buckeyes. She reached her NCAA qualifying time in her first-place finish at the Big Ten Championships in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.32.%^$
%^$Connor earned his fastest time of the season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:43.53) at the Big Ten Championships, in which he placed first. He also provisionally qualified in the 1,500-meter run May 13, with the time of 3:43.90.%^$
%^$”Ian has been training hard all year, and we knew that his dedication would allow him to come through with a big race, which would allow him to qualify,” Rogers said.%^$
%^$Hoover can add qualifying for the championships to his list of outstanding first-year accomplishments. He earned a qualifying distance at the Big Ten Championships with a first-place throw of 227’5?. This victory made him the first Buckeye since 1937, to win the Big Ten javelin competition.%^$
%^$Hoover proved he would have a bright future with Ohio State when he broke the school record in the javelin on April 9, 2000, with a throw of 210’7? at the Brutus Hamilton Memorial Invitational in Berkeley, Calif., his first collegiate competition. Throughout the season he continued to improve his personal and school records. However it was at the Big Ten Championships when he truly reached his potential by crushing his latest record, 220’6?, by nearly seven feet.
