Buckeye Men Top Standings after Day One at All-Ohio Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
April 11, 2003
Columbus, Ohio – The 2003 All-Ohio Track and Field Championships began with opening events Friday evening at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The 13-team field, featuring Ohio Collegiate squads, is topped on the men’s side by the host Buckeyes, who have accumulated 51 points through day one, while the OSU women also find themselves near the top of the leader board following the day’s competition with 16 points.
The evening’s events concentrated on the decathlon events, heptathlon events, hammer throw, javelin and distance races as the OSU throw squad once again led the Buckeye effort scoring 48 of Ohio State’s 67 total points.
Indoor All-American thrower Dan Taylor (Middlefield, Ohio) topped the field in the men’s hammer, while a foursome of women throwers scored regional marks in the hammer throw for the second straight week.
Taylor contributed 10 first place points with a 204-6 regional qualifying effort in the men’s hammer, while seniors John Norman (Brimfield, Ohio) and Rusty Azbel (Lancaster, Ohio) and sophomore Brian Duby (Silver Lake, Ohio) combined for 15 points with second, fifth and sixth place marks. Norman (194-3), Duby (185-5), and Azbel (175-6), all posted career-highs, while Taylor qualified in the event for the third-straight week. Norman’s mark also serves as a regional bid.
Freshman Amarachi Ukabam (Creve Couer, Mo.) tallied a 175-2 qualifier in the women’s hammer to earn a berth in the 2003 NCAA regionals in her third event this season. Ukabam placed sixth.
In the same event, a trio of Ohio State competitors joined Ukabam as a regional qualifiers as sophomore Keturah Lofton (Zanesville, Ohio) led the way topping her personal-best 184-4 mark from last week with a 195-3 to place third, while Shelaine Larson (Ventura,Calif.) also scored a career-mark with a 184-3 fourth place performance. Junior Katy Houser (Westlake, Ohio) also recorded a personal-best 174-6 to qualify for a third time this season.
Senior and two-time Big Ten javelin champion George Hoover (Erie, Pa.) rounded out the scoring efforts in the throws with a second place 188-5 effort.
A pair of Buckeyes scored points in the distance events as junior Sjaan Gerth (Belgrout, Ont., Can.) and sophomore Aaron Fisher (Indianapolis, Ind.) placed second and third in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. Gerth, who completed the race in 9:00.84, and Fisher, who scored a time of 9:06.26, became the 22nd and 23rd Buckeyes to earn NCAA regional bids this season.
In the women’s 10,000-meter run, Akron’s Morgan Sulzener established a Jesse Owens Stadium record with a 36:43.05 to place first, while Amber Culp of Bowling Green recorded a venue mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 10:56.62.
Day two of the 2003 All-Ohio Track and Field Championships resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. with the 110-meter hurdles segment of the men’s decathlon.
Results for all events may be found at http://www.deltatiming.com/events/2003/allohio/index.htm.
Men’s Team Scores Pts. 1. Ohio State 51 2. Kent State 43 3. Cincinnati 15 4. Ashland ` 11 Akron 11 6. Youngstown State 9 7. Tiffin 5 Ohio 5 9. Findlay 3 10. Toledo 2
Women’s Team Scores Pts. 1. Kent State 28 2. Akron 25 3. Bowling Green 22 4. Ashland 18 5. Ohio State 16 6. Cincinnati 13 7. Ohio 8 Toledo 8 9. Findlay 7 Youngstown State 7 11. Dayton 2 Tiffin 2
