Ohio State Track and Field Opens 2004 Season at Home – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Jan. 7, 2004
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State track and field team commences the 2004 indoor campaign as host of the Buckeye Invitational. OSU welcomes Central State, Dayton, Morehouse College and South Florida to French Field House Saturday at Noon.
2003 INDOOR SEASON REVISITED
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 accounted for the third best national mark in the shot put, while Krista Keir established a new school record in the shot put. Each 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 were 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 Buckeyes captured fourth place in each of the men’s and women’s competitions. The Ohio State throw team led the way as Taylor scored 20 points with first place finishes in the weight throw and the shot put. Smith claimed her third-straight Big Ten women’s high jump title.
TAYLOR AND UKABAM REPRESENT UNITED STATES AT PAN AM GAMES
Throwers Dan Taylor, a senior, and sophomore Amarchi Ukabam celebrated their Big Ten championship seasons last year as selection 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 2005 U.S. NATIONAL COACHING 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 BUCKEYE INVITATIONAL
The Ohio State men’s and women’s track and field team kicked off the 2003 indoor season as it played host to Vanderbilt University and Central State University in the non-team scoring 2003 Buckeye Invitational. Highlighting the event for the Buckeyes were junior thrower Taylor, who placed first in the men’s shot put with a mark of 61 feet 10.5 inches. 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, and junior Becky Heintz, who set a new program record in the pole vault.
Other jumpers who faired well in their respective events were juniors Billy Mills, 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 Bryan Duby (42 feet 6.00 inches) for first place. On the women’s side, Keir took first place in the shot put with a throw that reached 49 feet 8.25 inches.
In the sprinting events, Greg Norman and Joel Brown finished 1-2 in the 60 meter dash as Norman posted a 6.88 mark, while Brown fell just behind at 6.94. In the 200 meter dash, 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.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2004
All the achievements earned both individually and as a unit in 2003 will serve as a solid stepping stone for the 2004 Ohio State men’s and women’s track and field team.
Buckeye head coach Russ Rogers, who enters his 16th season at the Ohio State helm, looks for banner performances from a strong returning class of seniors and juniors, while also seeking solid contributions from a talented freshmen class.
“We have a lot of talented athletes returning this season,” Rogers said. “There are some solid leaders on this team. If we stay healthy, both the men’s and women’s teams should be Top 3 in the Big Ten. The men have a real good shot at contending for the top spot in the outdoor season.”
The Buckeyes boast a group of seniors dually loaded in talent and leadership as two-time All-American Dan Taylor leads a unit rich in experience at the national level.
Taylor is the reigning Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year in both the indoor and outdoor campaigns as he looks to defend his conference titles in the weight throw and shot put in the indoor season and add conference crowns in the hammer and discus to his outdoor shot put title in 2002 and 2003.
Fellow senior Joel Brown also returns to defend his Big Ten title in the outdoor high hurdles.
Senior distance man Rob Myers returns for the indoor season in hopes of gaining his second straight All-America honor, while freshman Aaron Fisher will seek to defend his 2003 Big Ten title in the 5,000 meters.
Additional points should come from defending indoor and outdoor multi-events champion senior Nichollette Chambers and sophomore sensation Amarachi Ukabam, who topped the conference field in the discus last season and later won the NCAA Mideast Regional championship in the same event en route to being named Big Ten Outdoor Freshman of the Year.
THE WHEN AND THE WHERE – THE 2004 OHIO STATE SCHEDULE
Once again Ohio State boasts a challenging indoor and outdoor schedule for the 2004 season as it plays host to some of the top teams and meets in the country.
“Our schedule is strong across the board,” Rogers said. “It will test our team the entire year, which is important especially since the Olympic trials are coming up.”
Highlighting the indoor season are four home events at French Field House, including the opening event of the season as OSU welcomes competing schools to the Buckeye Invitational Jan. 10. After traveling to the Rod McCravy Invite at the University of Kentucky, the Buckeyes close out the month of January with consecutive home meets as Indiana and Purdue travel to Columbus for the annual tri-meet between the Buckeyes, Boilermakers and Hoosiers Jan. 24 before French serves as the venue for the 2004 running of the Ohio State Invitational Jan. 31.
The Buckeyes take to the road for the next two weeks, competing in the Indiana Invitational Feb. 6-7 and the Nittany Lion Invitational on the campus of Penn State University Feb. 13-14 before closing the indoor regular season at home as host of the Scarlet and Gray Invitational Feb. 22.
Ohio State will head to the Big Ten championships Feb. 28-29 with the men set to compete at Ann Arbor, Mich., while the women’s competition will take place at Iowa City, Iowa. The indoor campaign concludes March 12 -13 in Fayetteville, Ark. for the NCAA Championships.
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.
2004 SQUAD OUTLOOK
The throws unit highlighted the 2003 campaign as senior Dan Taylor continued to build upon his record-setting career at Ohio State, topping his own program standard nearly on a weekly basis en route to earning Big Ten Athlete of the Year honors and his second All-American award. On the women’s side, sophomore Amarachi Ukabam turned in one of the greatest first year performances in Ohio State history as she claimed the 2003 Big Ten discus championship and the Mideast regional title two weeks later.
The talent on the OSU throw team reaches much deeper than Taylor and Ukabam as returning All-Big Ten performer Keturah Lofton will seek a conference title in the indoor weight and the outdoor hammer, while former Big Ten shot put champion Alexis McCall looks to regain her success from the 2002 season. Added in that group is two-time Big Ten javelin champion George Hoover, who looks to fully-recover from an elbow injury that held him out of the entire 2002 season and less than 100 percent in many events last year.
The men’s side also boasts another foursome of talented throwers who should make solid contributions to the team this season.
D’Andrea is a member of the Ohio State football team as is senior Jason Caldwell and sophomore Quinn Pitcock, while Howell is a transfer from West Virginia, where he was a member of the Mountaineer football squad as well. Along with Duby, who set personal records last season, the foursome has the potential to score major points for the Buckeyes in 2004.
The women’s throw squad is just as deep as Smith welcomes back seniors Katie Houser and Shelaine Larson, who both will compete in multiple throw events, while sophomore Tiffany Davis, who converted from the sprint team, could serve as the No. 2 or 3 slot in the hammer.
The Jump Events
Although the Buckeyes lost several top performers in the jump events to graduation, including five-time Big Ten high jump champion Tami Smith, Ohio State returns an outstanding batch of accomplished student-athletes, led by 2003 All-Americans Drew Carter and Shayla Moore, who will seek their first conference titles this season. Others looked to contribute heavily in the jumps are seniors Billy Mills and Brad Hart in the high jump and Nosa Ehimwenman in both the long and triple jumps. Junior Rosalind Goodwin will strive for Big Ten honors in the triple and long jumps as well.
Carter, who suffered a leg injury as wide out on the Ohio State football team, hopes to fully-recover for the outdoor campaign and strive for his third All-Big Ten honor, while Moore will seek her first All-Big Ten selection and her second as an All-American.
Other contributors on the women’s side include juniors Zakiya Harris in the long jump and triple jump, while fellow junior Alicia Monroe will take part in the high jump and triple jump events. Also looked to for contributions are freshmen Jena Harris, a New Jersey state champion in the long jump, and Jesse Streger, who will look to follow in the footsteps of Tami Smith in the high jump.
The men’s side is bolstered by returning junior Richard Hurt, while Ashland transfer Jason Dahlman will boost team point totals.
The pole vault squad also enjoys several key returnees in junior Seth MacCarter on the men’s side and junior Becky Heintz and sophomore Robyn Mroz on the women’s side. Heintz and Mroz share the Ohio State outdoor pole vault record at 11-11.75, set last season.
The Sprint Squad
Senior Michael Jenkins will serve as a top contender in the 200-meter dash, while junior Greg Norman will be the OSU No. 1 in the 100-meter event in the outdoor season and the 60-meters during the indoor session. Looking to accent Brown’s performance in the hurdles is sophomore Jason Hodges.
Fellow hurdlers, seniors Molly Logan and Brandi Hogan, lead the women’s end of the sprint unit as the pair looks to conclude their careers with strong performances in the hurdle and relay events. Fellow senior Nichollette Chambers, the 2003 Big Ten champion in both the indoor and outdoor multi-events, and junior Pannsy Henry also should be slotted into the relay squads in both the 4×100 and 4×200-meter events.
The Distance Field
The Ohio State men’s and women’s distance runners once again will be a key component to this year’s squad as the men return all but two runners from the 2003 season. On the women’s side, the Buckeyes return top runners Lyndsi Gay and Robyn Detty, both of whom posted strong cross country seasons this past fall.
This past fall, both men’s and women’s cross country squads once again posted strong seasons as the women earned their highest finish at the 2003 Big Ten Cross Country Championships since 1994, while the men qualified for the NCAA championships for the second-consecutive season.
On the men’s side, the Buckeyes return an array of talent, including Rob Myers, who will return for the outdoor season, but will sit-out during the indoor competition. In 2003, Myers notched two sub-four minute miles during the indoor season and set school marks in the 1,000-meter run and mile run.
The Buckeyes also return 2003 cross country co-captain Sjaan Gerth who has posted back-to-back third-place finishes in the steeplechase at the Big Ten championships and should vie for first-place this season.
Sophomore Aaron Fisher will seek to top a stellar freshman campaign in 2003. Fisher won the 5,000-meter run at the Big Ten outdoor championship, clocking a career-best 14:19.21, while also earning all-conference honors in the steeplechase with another career-mark of 8:48.23.
The trio of Fisher, Gerth and Myers look to score major points in the upcoming track and field season.
Multi-events
Senior Nicholette Chambers will seek to defend her 2003 conference titles in the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon as she looks to top her own record in the pentathlon, which she established last year with 3,793 points at the Big Ten meet.
Notable Newcomers
Ohio State welcomes several new faces to the team in 2004 and looks for each to help fill voids left by graduated seniors from a season ago. Topping that list is freshman high jumper Jena Harris, a New Jersey high school state champion, who will be asked to fill the large shoes of departed senior and five-time Big Ten champion Tami Smith.
Gerald Griffin adds to the sprint squads as a specialist in the 200 and 400-meter sprints.
Kenny Howell, a transfer from West Virginia, where he was a four-time All-Big East performer his first two seasons in track and field, while also playing football for the Mountaineers. Howell specializes in the shot put in the indoor season and the shot put and discus in the outdoor session.
UP NEXT
The Buckeyes travel for the first time in 2004 as the head to Lexington, Ky. for the Rod McCravy Invitational at the University of Kentucky.
