Six Ohio State Athletes Qualify for 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
March 12, 2003
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Following fourth place performances in each of the men’s and women’s Big Ten Track and Field Big Ten Championships, Ohio State’s national qualifiers will compete in the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Throwers Dan Taylor, Krista Keir and Keturah Lofton earned bids, while hurdlers Joel Brown and Molly Logan join distance runner Rob Myers in the running events.
SIX QUALIFY FOR NCAA COMPETITION
Six Buckeyes earned qualifying marks for the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held March 14 and 15 at the University of Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Indoor Track Facility. Ohio State junior thrower Dan Taylor led an OSU throw team that qualified three individuals as he earned a berth in both the weight throw and the shot put competitions. Shot putter Krista Keir earned her second trip to nationals, while sophomore Keturah Lofton advanced to participate in the weight throw.
Ohio State also qualified three in the running events as seniors Joel Brown, 60-meter hurdles, and Rob Myers, one-mile run, each placed among the Top 5 in the nation in their respective events. Hurdler Molly Logan will also contend in the 60-meter hurdles.
Taylor qualified as the top performer in the nation in the weight throw event with a Big Ten record setting mark of 22.35 meters. He also holds the nation’s third-best effort in the shot put at 20.52m, set at the Ohio State Invitational. Kier earned her berth with a 16.85m throw at the Sykes/Sabock Challenge Feb. 15, while Lofton posted her mark a week earlier at the Rod McCravy Invitational with a 19.55m performance in the weight throw.
Brown and Logan have combined for numerous sweeps in the 60-meter hurdles this season, including the Scarlet and Gray Invite Feb. 22, where both captured first place in the 55-meter hurdles as their times converted to automatic qualifiers in the 60-meter event. Brown posted a 7.18 (7.69 conversion), while Logan registered a 7.68 (8.21 conversion) as each set Ohio State records in the 55-meter event at the Scarlet and Gray.
Myers, who set a school record in both the 1,000-meter and one-mile runs this indoor season, will compete in the mile as he scored the second best figure in the nation with a 3:58.64 at the Rod McCravy Invitational Feb. 7.
TAYLOR HONORED AS BIG TEN TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Ohio State junior thrower Dan Taylor was named Big Ten Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the conference championships in a vote of the league’s coaches.
Taylor set a Big Ten Championships record en route to winning the 35-pound weight throw (22.35 meters) and also claimed the shot put title with his 20.00m mark. Taylor is a two-time All-Big Ten selection and holds the top mark in the nation in the weight throw.
OSU THROWERS: TOP SQUAD IN THE BIG TEN
The Ohio State men’s and women’s throw team members littered the Top 5 best performances in the Big Ten weight throw and shot put events during the 2003 indoor season.
Led by All-American thrower Dan Taylor, who set a Big Ten record in the weight throw at the conference championships, the Ohio State throw team capped an impressive performance with 11 Top 10 finishes in the four throw events on both the men’s and women’s side. Even more, the OSU squad captured either first place or runner-up status in each of the throw events Keir, shot put, and Lofton, weight, added second place efforts to compliment Taylor’s outstanding performance.
Also holding top marks in the throw events amongst Big Ten competition are Buckeyes Keturah Lofton, 19.55m in the weight throw, and Krista Keir with a 16.85m in the shot put. Falling just behind Lofton is freshman thrower Amarchi Ukabam with a 19.32m in the weight throw.
2003 INDOOR SEASON GLANCE
The Ohio State men’s and women’s track and field teams turned in a stellar 2003 indoor season as the men claimed first place team finishes in two of four scoring events en route to a No. 12 ranking in the Trackwire.com poll, while the women scored second place finishes in two events.
14 Buckeye individuals qualified for the NCAA Championships either provisionally or via automatic criteria. Highlighting that list was thrower Dan Taylor, who set a Big Ten record in the weight throw and also owns the third best national mark in the shot put, while Krista Keir established a new school record in the shot put. Each has automatically qualified for the NCAA’s.
Also setting a new OSU all-time mark was sprinter Joel Brown, who automatically qualified with a school-best 7.18 in the 55m hurdles.
Other notables on the women’s side was provisional qualifiers Tami Smith in the high jump and sprinter Molly Logan who posted provisionals in the 55m and 60m hurdles.
At the 2003 Big Ten Championships, the Ohio State Buckeyes captured fourth place in each of the men’s and women’s competitions. The Ohio State throw team led the way as Dan Taylor scored 20 points with first place finishes in the weight throw and the shot put. Tami Smith claimed her third-straight Big Ten women’s high jump title.
EIGHT BUCKEYES EARN ALL-BIG TEN
Eight Buckeyes were recognized as first and second team All-Big Ten performers after placing either first or second in their respective events at the 2003 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Leading the Ohio State honorees was thrower Taylor, who topped his own OSU and Big Ten record mark en route to claiming the weight throw crown as he posted a sweep of the weekend’s throw events. His mark of 22.35m (73-4.00) bested his Ohio State and conference record-setting mark of 22.03m set earlier this season and out-performed teammate Rusty Azbell – 19.74m (64-9.25) – as Taylor tallied his third career Big Ten throwing title. The honor is Azbell’s first of his career.
Brown claimed first team all-conference as he posted a 7.80 in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, while fellow senior high jumper Tami Smith captured her third-consecutive indoor conference title with a leap of 5-9.75.
Also earning recognition on the women’s side was Nicholette Chambers, who turned in an Ohio State record-setting performance scoring 3,793 points to capture the conference title in the pentathlon.
Ohio State continued their strong performances in the field events as Lofton led the way placing second in the weight throw with a mark of 62-1.75, while Keir rounded-out the Ohio State all-conference effort with a second place throw of 16.26m (53-4.25).
RECAPPING THE 2003 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Men: The men’s squad found itself in first place after day one action as Taylor scored a title-winning oerformance in the shot put, while Drew Carter earned eight team points with a second place standing in the long jump.
Day two saw the Buckeyes claim a fourth place team finish as Taylor contributed another 10 points with a sweep of the throw events, while Joel Brown also netted 10 points for the Ohio State cause as he claimed the 60-meter hurdles championship with a provisional qualifying mark of 7.80.
In the one-mile run , Rob Myers captured third finishing in a time of 4:07.43, while pole vaulter Seth MacCarter also posted a third place finish with a 16-0.75 figure.
The Women: The Buckeyes finished the event with 69.0 points to edge out Wisconsin for fourth place.
Tami Smith captured her third-consecutive conference title in the high jump. Smith defended her title in a jump-off with a leap of 5-9.75.
Ohio State continued their strong performances in the field events, placing four individuals in the Top 8 in the weight throw. Lofton led the way placing second with a throw of 62-1.75. In her first appearance at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, Amarachi Ukabam turned in a strong performance with a throw of 59-2 and placed fourth.
In the shot put, Keir placed second with a throw of 16.26m (53-4.25). Erin Carter also scored points for the Buckeyes with an eighth place finish throwing a distance of 48-9.50.
In the women’s triple jump Shayla Moore clinched fourth place for the Buckeyes with her leap of 41-11.50, while Logan and Brandi Hogan finished third and sixth, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles.
TAYLOR EARNS USTA WEEKLY AWARD
Dan Taylor (Middlefield, Ohio/Berkshire) was named Friday as the United States Track and Field Coaches Association Athlete of the Week for March 6. Taylor earned the honor with a Big Ten record-setting performance to win the conference weight throw title, which he combined with a first place finish in the shot put.
The Middlefield, Ohio native placed first in 12 of 14 throw events during the 2003 indoor season and has automatically qualified in both the weight throw and the shot put for the NCAA Championships set for March 14 and 15.
OSU SWEEPS BIG TEN ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONORS
Ohio State sprinter/hurdlers Joel Brown (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) and Molly Logan (Jr., Darby, Pa.) set new Ohio State program records with a sweep of the hurdles events Saturday at the Scarlet and Gray Invitational en route to claiming Big Ten Track and Field Athlete of the Week awards for Feb. 25.
Brown, who established a new Ohio State all-time mark in the 60m hurdles with a 7.77 on Feb. 8, 2003, set a new Ohio State indoor record with a 7.18 mark in the 55m hurdles Saturday during the Scarlet and Gray Invitational. Brown’s mark serves as an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships. Brown also scored a first place finish in the 200m dash with a time of 21.78.
Logan, who has captured first place four consecutive weeks in the hurdles events, provisionally qualified for national competition with a new French Field House record 7.68 mark in the 55m hurdles.
Brown and Logan also have provisionally qualified in the 60m hurdles in 2003. Brown twice with a 7.77 at the Rod McCravy Invitational and the Sykes/Sabock Challenge Cup and Logan with an 8.26 performance at the Sykes/ Sabock.
With the weekly award, Brown and Logan join Ohio State thrower and three-time conference honoree Dan Taylor (Middlefield, Ohio) for a total of five Big Ten Track and Field Athlete of the Week merits during the 2003 indoor season.
BUCKEYE MEN AMONG NATION’S ELITE
The Ohio State men’s track and field squad, which placed fourth at the Big Ten Championships, currently sits at the No. 12 spot in the Feb. 24 Trackwire.com poll.
TAYLOR SECOND PLACE? NOT LIKELY
Dan Taylor once again dominated the throwing events for the eighth-consecutive meet as he topped the feild in both the shot put and weight throw at the Big Ten Championships.
The Middlefield, Ohio product bested his own school record in the weight throw to place first at the McCravy Invite Feb. 8 and establish a new Big Ten record in the event with a toss of 22.03m. Taylor also grabbed first in the shot put with a mark of 19.45m. Both figures serve as automatic qualifiers, while the figure in the weight throw is the best in the nation this season.
In the Ohio State Invite, Taylor posted a 20.52m throw in the shot put to once again automatically qualify for national competition and claim first place for the fourth-consecutive event. The figure is the best in the nation in the 2003 season.
In all, Taylor has placed first in 12 of 14 throwing events this season, including wins in all seven shot put events in 2003.
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 event will feature over 900 student-athletes competing over the two-days of action.
UP NEXT
Ohio State opens the 2003 outdoor season at the Baldy Castillo Classic March 21 and 22 at Arizona State University.
