Track and Field Travels To Champaign – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Jan. 15, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s and women’s track and field teams will open their road schedule this Saturday at the Illinois Invitational. Field events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with the running events beginning at 11:45 a.m. The event will take place at the Armory Indoor Track Facility site of the 2003 Big Ten championships. The Buckeyes along with Illinois, Illinois State and Indiana State are among the teams competing in this weekend’s events at the Illinois Invitational.
LAST TIME OUT
The Ohio State men’s and women’s track and field teams kicked off the 2003 indoor season as it played host to Vanderbilt and Central State University in the non-team scoring 2003 Buckeye Invitational. Highlighting the event for the Buckeyes were junior thrower Dan Taylor, who placed first in the men’s shot put with a mark of 61 feet 10.5 inches and senior jumper Tami Smith, who also earned a first place standing in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet 9.75 inches, which merits a provision qualification for NCAA competition. The Buckeyes also recieved a strong showing from junior Becky Heintz, who set a new program record in the pole vault with a leap of 11 feet 5 inches.
Other jumpers who faired well in their respective events were senior Billy Mills, junior Nosa Ehimwenman, and sophomores Zakiyah Harris and Rosalind Goodwin, all of which earned first place finishes in their event. Mills tallied a 6 feet 9 inch mark in the men’s high jump, while Ehimwenman leapt 23 feet 4 inches in the long jump. Harris and Goodwin split a first place finish in the women’s long jump with jumps of 17 feet 9.00 inches each. Goodwin added a second place finish in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 38 feet 5.75 inches, falling behind OSU’s Shayla Moore who bested Goodwin’s mark with by one foot at 39 feet 5.75 inches.
Taylor, a 2002 indoor and outdoor all-american, commenced the day’s events with a strong performance in the shot put as he bested fellow Buckeye Brian Duby (42 feet 6.00 inches) for first place. On the women’s side Ohio State senior Krista Keir took first place in the shot put with a throw that reached 49 feet 8.25 inches.
In the sprinting events, Ohio State seniors Greg Norman and Joel Brown finished 1-2 in the 60 meter dash. Norman posted a mark of 6.88 seconds while Brown fell just behind at 6.94. In the 200 meter dash, Ohio State’s Greg Norman added another first place finish with a time of 22.48.
In the distance events, Ohio State’s Rob Myers placed first in the 3000 meters. Chris Basinger of Ohio State also won the 1 mile run with a time of 4:21.36.
Heintz set a new indoor program record in the pole vault as she surpassed the bar at 11 feet 5.75 inches, which earned her a tie for first place with Vanderbilt’s Paige Roberts.
NOTING THE BUCKEYES
KRISTA KEIR
Krista Keir (Jr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville) opened the 2003 indoor season by taking first place honors in the shot put.
GREG NORMAN
Greg Norman (Jr., Baltimore, Md./Woodlawn) broke the French Field House record in the 60 meter dash in a time of 6.88 seconds.
TAMI SMITH
Tami Smith (Sr., Galloway, Ohio/Westland) began her 2003 season by proviouslly qualifying for the 2003 NCAA championships in the high jump with a leap of
DAN TAYLOR
Dan Taylor (Jr., Middlefield, Ohio/Berkshire) provisionally qualified for the 2003 NCAA track and field championships with a throw of 61 feet 10 inches.
TAYLOR NAMED BIG TEN ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ohio State junior thrower Dan Taylor earned Big Ten men’s track and field athlete of the week after posting a first place finish in the men’s shot put and a third place standing in the weight throw. Both of Taylor’s performances were good for a provisional qualification to NCAA competition.
Taylor, a 2002 indoor and outdoor All-American, commenced the day’s events with a strong performance in the shot put as he bested fellow Buckeye Brian Duby (42 feet 6.00 inches) for first place with a throw of 61 feet 10.5 inches. Taylor also placed third in the weight throw as he fell just behind teammate Rusty Azbell (60 feet 11.75 inches) with a throw of 60 feet 11.25 inches.
MEET COACH RUSS ROGERS
In his 15 years at Ohio State, Russ Rogers has produced more than 100 Big Ten indoor and outdoor track and field champions, 10 NCAA indoor and outdoor champions and 73 All-Americans. 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 where he served as the head coach for men’s and women’s track and field as well as the cross country teams for 10 years.
OHIO STATE PLAYS HOSTS TO NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The NCAA has announced that The Ohio State University has been awarded the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Regional Championships to be held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on May 30 and 31.
The championships are a two-day event that will feature over 900 collegiate athletes.
UP NEXT
The Ohio State men’s and women’s track and field teams will travel to West Lafayette, Ind. to compete against Big Ten opponents Indiana and Purdue.
