Buckeye Track and Field Hosts Ohio State Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Jan. 28, 2004
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State track and field teams remain at home for the second straight week as they welcome the largest field of competing teams in the indoor season to French Field House for the 2004 Ohio State Invitational Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.
THE OHIO STATE INVITATIONAL
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2004
11 a.m.
French Field House
Ohio State University
COMPETING TEAMS
Ohio State, Ashland, Cedarville, central state, Dayton, Eastern Kentucky, Illinois state, Kentucky State, Marshall, miami (ohio), morehouse, rio grande and toronto
TAYLOR, UKABAM REPEAT AS BIG TEN ATHLETES OF THE WEEK, AWARD IS TAYLOR’S THIRD IN 2004
Ohio State throwers Dan Taylor and Amarachi Ukabam not only have dominated their competition in the throw events this season, winning 11 of the 12 throw competitions, but the tandem has nearly owned the Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors in 2004.
Taylor garnered his third award in as many weeks Tuesday after first-place performances in both the shot put (65-0.75) and weight throw (73-9.75) at the Indiana-Purdue-Ohio State Tri-Meet with NCAA indoor championship automatic qualifying marks in both events.
Ukabam scored her second honor in as many weeks with first placers in the weight and shot put as well. Ukabam’s mark in the weight (65-10.50) served as an automatic national qualifier, while her effort in the shot put (52-8.25) provisionally qualified for the NCAA’s. Taylor’s weekly honor is his 10th in the last two seasons. The award is the third won by Ukabam in her career.
Last week, the pair claimed the men’s and women’s Big Ten Indoor Athlete of the Week following first-place performances in both the weight throw and shot put at the Kentucky Invitational. Taylor, who garnered the weekly award after setting an American collegiate record in the weight throw in the season-opener Jan. 10, set a Kentucky venue record in the shot put and took first in the weight. On the women’s side, Amarachi Ukabam automatically qualified for the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships with her effort in the weight throw, while also posting the top mark in the shot put.
Taylor opened the event at UK with an effort of 73-7.25 to capture first in the weight and completed the sweep with a Nutter Field House all-time shot put mark of 66-5.25. Both of Taylor’s efforts served as automatic qualifiers to the NCAA championships.
Ukabam, the reigning conference freshman of the year, recorded an NCAA Indoor championships automatic qualifier in the weight with a heave of 65-7.75. Her 51-4.25 first-place throw in the shot put also served as a provisional qualifier.
LAST WEEK: OSU SWEEPS TRI-MEET
Ohio State placed first in both the men’s and women’s competitions in its first and only tri-meet of the season against Big Ten rivals Purdue and Indiana, Saturday at French Field House. The Buckeye men totaled 114 team points, with Indiana taking second with 97 points and Purdue following with 76. Ohio State’s 123 team points won the women’s end as the Buckeyes bested the 112-point effort by Indiana and 80 points accumulated by Purdue.
The Ohio State throws squad fueled the Buckeyes to the first-place finish as OSU claimed top marks in each of the shot put and weight throw competitions on both the men’s and women’s side. Reigning Big Ten athlete of the year Dan Taylor posted his fifth and sixth first-place scores of the season as he topped the field in the shot put with a throw of 65-0.75 and tossed a 73-9.50 in the weight.
Amarachi Ukabam also helped the Buckeyes sweep the throw events as she posted a first-place effort in the weight throw with a season-best 65-10.50 and a provision qualifying measure of 52-8.25 to win the shot put. The effort in the weight serves as the second-straight week Ukabam has recorded a NCAA automatic qualifier. Ohio State claimed second place in both the shot put and weight as Keturah Lofton provisionally qualified in the weight with a 64-3 effort, while Alexis McCall took runner-up in the shot put with a 48-6.
Ohio State also scored first in several other field events as junior Rosalind Goodwin posted seven team points in the long jump with a winning mark of 19-11 and added another seven with a provisional qualifier in the triple jump with a leap of 42-2.75. Fellow junior Shayla Moore followed Goodwin in the triple jump in second with a 41-3.75. Senior Nosa Ehimwenman completed the sweep in the long jump and triple jump for OSU with a 23-6.25 to take first in the men’s long jump and a 44-8.25 leap to top the field in the triple jump. Both Ehimwenman and Goodwin set season-highs for Ohio State in the long jump, while Goodwin also set a season-best in the triple jump for OSU.
The Buckeyes also scored points in the high jump as senior Billy Mills recorded his second first-place mark of the season with a leap of 6-7 for the top spot in the event. Completing the field events Saturday was Seth MacCarter, who cleared 5.00 meters to take first place in the pole vault.
Senior Lyndsi Gay turned in a season-best 5:04.29 to score seven first-place points for Ohio State in the women’s one-mile run, while sophomore Joe Gourley clocked a first-place 1:21.53 in the 600-meter run. Junior Dan Glaz finished the Ohio State scoring in the distance events with a first-place time of 8:25.38 in the 3,000-meter run.
The sprints featured contributions from senior Brandi Hogan, who placed first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.65 and second in the 200 meters with a 25.56, and freshman Jenna Harris, who clocked a 7.52 to win the women’s 60-meter dash and also clocked a 24.90 to win the 200 meters. The men received points from John Morris in the 400-meter dash as the junior finished the event in 49.26 to claim first. Ohio State also scored in the women’s 400m as junior Pannsy Henry finished with a strong kick to claim second with a time of 59.02.
The Ohio State women’s 4×400-meter relay squad added the final seven-point effort with a winning time of 3:52.11.
BUCKEYE THROWERS 12-FOR-12 SO FAR IN 2004, TAYLOR 6-OF-6
The Ohio State throw squad has competed in 12 total events in the early going in 2004 and have walked away from either the shot put or weight throw with a first-place standing on each occasion.
Taylor has fueled the men’s side with record-shattering first place finishes in both the weight and shot put in the three meets this season, while Lofton and Ukabam have combined to take top honors in each throw event this season. Ukabam has won the shot put at the Buckeye and Kentucky Invites and at the Tri-meet and was first in the weight at UK and in the tri-meet, while Lofton scored first place in the weight at the Buckeye Invite.
TAYLOR UPS FRENCH FIELD HOUSE WIN STREAK TO SEVEN AND NINE-OF-10
With his victories in each of the weight throw and shot put competitions at the Buckeye Invite and the IU-PU-OSU Tri-meet, Taylor claimed his seventh straight crown and ninth in 10 total events at French Field House during the past two seasons.
Additionally, Taylor, who scored first place in 12 of 14 indoor throw events last season prior to the NCAA Championships, now has claimed top honors in 16 of the last 18 regular season throw events since the beginning of the 2003 season.
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER RECORD
In the competition Jan. 17, senior thrower Dan Taylor once again set a record at the Kentucky Invitational. The senior, who already broke the American collegiate record in the weight throw in the opening event this season, established a Nutter Field House standard at the event Saturday with a throw of 66-5.25 in the shot put.
BUCKEYE MEN RANKED No. 10 BY TRACKWIRE.COM
The Ohio State men’s team was recognized as the No. 10 team in the country by the latest Trackwire.com poll. The Buckeyes are one of six Big Ten squads in the Top 25 as Minnesota is rated the highest at No. 5, with Wisconsin ranked in a tie for 17th. Michigan, OSU , Purdue and Indiana fall in between the Golden Gophers and Badgers. Arkansas in ranked No. 1. Fellow Southeastern teams – Auburn and LSU – completed the Top 3.
HARRIS OFF TO FAST START
This past weekend freshman Jenna Harris established herself as the squad’s top sprinter on the women’s side during the 2004 Kentucky Invite as she posted top times for OSU in the 60m dash and the 200m dash. During the event, Harris posted times of 7.51 and 24.51 respectfully.
Most recently, Harris tallied two first-place times at the Indiana-Purdue-OSU Tri-meet with a 7.52 in the 60m and a 24.90 in the 200m.
TAYLOR SETS AMERICAN COLLEGIATE RECORD AT BUCKEYE INVITATIONAL
Five-time All-American Dan Taylor kicked off the 2004 season in grand fashion as the reigning Big Ten indoor and outdoor athlete of the year established an American collegiate record in the weight throw with a heave of 76-2.25 (23.22 meters), surpassing the previous mark of 74-8.5 held by Kevin Mannon of Wyoming.
Taylor’s performance eclipsed his previous Big Ten and Ohio State weight throw records set March 3, 2003 at 22.35 meters, while falling shy of the NCAA record 24.02-meter mark set by Libor Charfreitag – a native of Slovakia – of SMU March 9, 2001.
Taylor also scored a first-place standing in the shot put with a throw of 66-6.5. His combined efforts in the weight throw and shot put Saturday set the all-time best performance in the two events in the history of indoor track and field. Taylor, whose career-best in the shot put is 69-11, now holds the all-time combined career record between the two events.
TAYLOR DEEMED USATF MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – JAN. 12
Taylor was named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after setting an American collegiate record in the weight throw Saturday at the Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio.
Taylor also was named USATF athlete of the week March 16, 2003 after claiming Top 3 marks in both the weight and shot put at the 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
TAYLOR AND UKABAM REPRESENT OHIO STATE AT PAN AM GAMES
Throwers Dan Taylor, a senior, and sophomore Amarchi Ukabam celebrated their Big Ten championship seasons last year as selections to the 2004 United States Pan American Games members.
Taylor competed in the senior games in the Dominican Republic, while Ukabam scored a junior championship in the discus in Barbados.
OSU’S WARNER NAMED TO U.S. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS STAFF
Jack Warner, Ohio State track and field assistant coach, was officially named to the 2005 United States World Championships coaching staff in December. Warner will serve as the sprints and hurdles coach at the event held in Helsinki, Finland. Dates for the championships are to be announced in the future.
2003 CROSS COUNTRY WRAP UP
The Ohio State men’s and women’s cross country teams once again posted strong seasons under the direction of men’s head coach Robert Gary and women’s head coach Chad Myers.
This past fall, the women’s team posted its highest finish at the 2003 Big Ten Championships, while the men qualified for the NCAA championships for the third time in four years. Pacing the Buckeyes down the stretch was senior co-captain Rob Myers who earned First Team All-Big Ten honors as he placed sixth at the Big Ten championships.
Leading the way for the women’s team was senior Lyndsi Gay as she paced the Buckeyes during the first four meets of the season before being sidelined with an injury at the end of the year.
UP NEXT
Ohio State packs its bags for the first time in three weeks as the squad heads to Bloomington, Ind. for the Indiana Invitational Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7.
