Track and Field At Full Strength For Relays – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
April 13, 2001
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%^$%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio-The Buckeyes are on the road again this week, participating in the Sea Ray relays hosted by the University of Tennessee, April 11-14 at UT’s Tom Black Track. The heptathlon events will begin Wednesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. The distance carnival is slated for Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., while a full slate of activities runs from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and 9:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Saturday.%^$
%^$Merriman’s Outdoor Debut
%^$Donnica Merriman (Sr., Trotwood, Ohio), makes her outdoor debut in the Sea Ray Relays. Merriman enters the meet ranked No. 1 in the 100-meter high hurdles and No. 7 in the 200-meter dash. While only ranked No. 1 in a single event, Merriman’s seed times and 2000 results are faster than the winners of the 2000 Sea Ray Relays. In the relays last year, the winning times were 11.19 in the 100, 13.18 in the high hurdles and 23.08 in the 200. Merriman has clocked times of 11.16, 12.70 and 22.75, respectively, in those events.%^$
%^$The All-America sprinter did not compete in last week’s Wheeling Jesuit Invitational or the season-opening Baldy Castillo Invitational because of a muscle injury. She is practicing with the team and should be ready to compete in the Sea Ray Relays.%^$
%^$Noting The Men’s Competition
%^$The Sea Ray Relays historically draw some of the best talent collegiate track and field has to offer. Among the top-level teams in the competition are Florida, Georgia, George Mason and host Tennessee.%^$
%^$Ohio State’s Andrew Pierce (Sr.,Yellow Springs, Ohio) will face stiff competition early. His first event, the 200-meter dash, pits him against Florida’s Aaron Armstrong and Geno White, and Tennessee’s Scott Leonard and Justin Gatlin. Tennessee is ranked No. 3 and Florida is No. 9 in the latest Trackwire poll. Ohio State ranked No. 24 in the same poll. Armstrong and Pierce have posted identical seed times of 20.30, making them the two to beat in the first heat. Also running in Pierce’s first heat will be Akron’s Leshaunte Edwards. Pierce and Edison Francis (Sr., St. James, Trinidad) will represent the Buckeyes in the 200, while Pierce also will run the 400 with teammate Thomas Dickson (Sr., St. Vincent, West Indies). Pierce is ranked No. 1 in the 400 with a seed time of 44.80. The No. 8 4×100-meter relay team with face No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 New York Tech and No. 5 East Carolina among others in the first heat.%^$
%^$In the distance events, No. 4 Rob Myers (So., Rushville, Ohio) will kick off the 1,500-meter run against seven of the Top 10 competitors in that event. Myer’s seed time of 3:40.06 is just under one second below the fastest time. Eight of the Top 10 competitors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase will face off, including Ohio State’s Ian Conner (Sr., Lexington, Ohio). Conner is ranked No. 3 in the competition behind Wisconsin’s Jared Cordes and Anthony Famigietti of Adidas.%^$
%^$No. 2 George Hoover is just under six meters short of Kirt Thompson’s top mark of 75.62 meters. Both men, and four of the next six best competitors will compete in the javelin throw INVITE finals on Saturday.%^$
%^$Noting The Women’s Events
%^$The women also will be facing serious competition over the weekend. No. 8 Clemson and No. 12 Georgia are among the top teams scheduled to compete.%^$
%^$Although Merriman will not be running in the 100-meter dash, she will participate in several other events, including the 100-meter high hurdles. Merriman is ranked No. 1 in the event, with a seed time 0.30 seconds faster than her closest competition. No. 5 Dalanda Jackson (Fr., Shaker Heights, Ohio)will be competing in the first heat with Merriman. The two Buckeyes will battle No. 3 Danielle Carruthers of Indiana and No. 4 Vida Nsiah of Central State. Buckeyes Brandi Hogan (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Molly Logan (So., Darby, Pa) will be competing in the second heat of the event.Merriman will attempt to move up from her No. 7 position in the 200 on Friday. Her time of 22.30 is .38 seconds off the lead time.%^$
%^$Ohio State’s Katy Craig (Jr. Hilliard, Ohio) will do battle with some of the nation’s best in the hammer and discus throws. Craig is ranked No. 4 in hammer throw and No. 10 on discus. With a seed mark of 60.95 meters, she needs nearly five more meters to catch No. 1 Anna Norgren, and three meters to equal No. 2 Tara Loper. Both women will be competing with Craig in the final section of the hammer throw. Alexis McCall (Fr., Elyria, Ohio) will attempt to gain ground on No. 1 Teri Tunks and No. 2 Connie Price-Smith during the women’s shot put event Saturday afternoon. Her seed mark of 16.06 meters is the fourth best in the nation.%^$
%^$Buckeyes at Wheeling Jesuit
%^$Ohio State dominated its first ever trip to the Wheeling Jesuit Invitational, April 7. Ohio State walked away from the competition with 22 first place finishes, including two apiece by Dalanda Jackson, Tina Johnson (Sr., Burlington, N.J.), Katy Craig and Andrew Pierce.%^$
%^$Pierce continued to scorch the track, winning the 200- and 400-meter dash with times of 21.30 and 46.81, respectively. Pierce is among the very best in the nation on both events. Jackson placed first in the 100 (14.04) and 400-meter hurdles (1:00.45), while Johnson took first in the 200 and 400-meter dash. Craig won both the hammer throw (55.77 meters) and discus (43.67) and placed fourth in the shot put with a distance of 11.78 meters. Buckeyes swept the Top 5 spots in the women’s shot put event and the Top 3 in the women’s high jump. The men swept the Top 4 on shot put and posted four of the Top 5 results on the hammer throw.%^$
%^$Meet The Coach
%^$In his 13 years at Ohio State, Russ Rogers has produced 100 Big Ten indoor and outdoor track and field champions, 10 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.%^$
%^$Rogers has more than 30 years of head coaching experience in national and international track and field.%^$
%^$Rogers came to Ohio State from Fairleigh Dickinson University, located in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he was the head coach for both the men’s and women’s track and field and cross country teams for 10 years.%^$
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