Brown, Taylor Help No. 12 Men’s Track and Field Secure Fourth Place at 2003 Big Ten Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
March 2, 2003
Results
Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s track and field team, ranked No. 12 in the latest Trackwire.com poll, concluded a fourth place performance Sunday in the final day of action at the 2003 Big Ten Indoor Championships held at Illinois’ Armory Indoor Track Facility. Ohio State amassed 98.0 team points in the 18-event meet, falling shy of third place Purdue (123.0 points). Wisconsin took first place with 133.5 total team points as the Badgers edged second place Minnesota (131.5) to repeat as champions.
Ohio State junior thrower Dan Taylor (Middlefield, Ohio) continued to turn heads as he exceeded his previous OSU and Big Ten record mark en route to claiming the weight throw crown and post a sweep of the weekend’s throw events. Taylor topped the field in the shot put Saturday with a 20.00m (65-7.50) effort. His mark of 22.35m (73-4.00), which bested his Ohio State and conference record-setting mark of 22.03m set earlier this season, out-performed teammate Rusty Azbell (Lancaster, Ohio) – 19.74m (64-9.25) – as Taylor tallied his third career Big Ten throwing title. The Middlefield, Ohio native also claimed the outdoor shot put championship in 2002. Joining Taylor and Azbell with a point-scoring effort was senior John Norman (Brimfield, Ohio) who placed seventh with an 18.59m (61-0.00) figure.
Senior hurdler Joel Brown (Baltimore, Md.) 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. Fellow OSU hurdler Jason Hodges (Fr./ Huber Heights, Ohio) placed seventh in the same event with an 8.06. Brown added a fourth place finish in the 200m with a time of 21.60.
In the one-mile run event, Ohio State distance runner Rob Myers (Sr./ Rushville, Ohio) captured third finishing in a time of 4:07.43. Also scoring points for the Buckeyes were sophomore sprinters John Morris (Camden, N.Y.) and Greg Norman (Amherst, Ohio). Norman posted a fifth place effort in the 60-meter dash in a time of 6.88, which ties his personal record. Morris notched a sixth place standing in the 400m with a 48.31, while senior distance runner Derrick Butler (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored a 14:21.19 to claim sixth in the 5,000m.
Ohio State, which stood in first place after day one, records its fourth Top 4 finish in the last four indoor seasons.
Complete results of the 2003 Men’s Big Ten Indoor Championships can be found at http://www.bigten.org/PressReleases/20030224/itrk-030301-mtrackindex.cfm
2003 Men’s Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Final Team Standings
Place Points 1. Wisconsin 133.5 2. Minnesota 131.5 3. Purdue 123 4. Ohio State 98 5. Indiana 67 6. Michigan 51.5 7. Penn State 42 8. Illinois 26 9. Iowa 18.5 10. Michigan State 11
