Five Buckeyes Claim All-America Honors, Men Place Fourth in Final Day of 2004 NCAA Track and Field Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
June 12, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 2004 Ohio State outdoor track and field season came to a close Saturday evening the final day of the NCAA championships at the University of Texas and its Mike A. Myers Stadium. Five Buckeyes gained All-America status Saturday, raising the OSU total to seven for the event. Senior Dan Taylor scored a runner-up finish in the shot put and a third-place standing in the hammer to score 14 team points for the men’s squad, which placed in a tie for fourth with 30 team points . The women finished in a tie for 32nd with seven points after juniors Rosalind Goodwin and Keturah Lofton each scored in the triple jump and hammer. Arkansas won the men’s field with 65.50 points, while TCU and SMU matched the Buckeye with 30 points. In the final women’s standings, UCLA edged LSU by a 69-to-68 count. Please visit www.texassports.com for complete event results and final team standings.
Taylor (Middlefield, Ohio/ Berkshire), the NCAA indoor shot and weight throw champion in 2004, recorded his eighth and ninth All-American awards Saturday after placing third in the hammer with an OSU and Big Ten record heave of 227 feet, 6 inches (227-6/ 69.35 meters). Later Saturday, Taylor threw in the shot put and used his fourth attempt to reach a distance of 65-11.75 (20.11m), which placed second to top-ranked Carl Myerscough of Nebraska and his mark of 68-8.75. Taylor concludes his Ohio State career as the most decorated thrower in school history with nine overall All-America honors, three school records, two national titles and a Big Ten record. Taylor’s record heave in the hammer snaps the mark he set two weeks ago at the NCAA Mideast regional of 223-5.
The men’s final team score was boosted heavily by a strong performance from the men’s distance team, which saw a pair of Buckeyes register Top 4 times in their events. Senior Rob Myers (Rushville, Ohio/ Fairfield Union) clocked a 3:45.17 to place fourth in the 1,500-meter run before junior Aaron Fisher (Indianapolis, Ind./ Franklin), the top seed heading into his race, took the No. 4 spot in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 8:49.53. Fellow junior Brian Olinger (Fresno, Ohio/ Ridgewood) joined Fisher in the steeple and captured 12th place at 9:06.60. The Top 4 finishes by Fisher and Myers earn the tandem their first career outdoor All-America accolades. All-America honors also were passed out among the women’s unit as well. Lofton (Zanesville, Ohio/ Zanesville) opened the day in the finals of the women’s hammer and tied her own Big Ten and Ohio State record with a launch of 204-7 to claim eighth-place and tally one team point for OSU. Lofton’s mark equals her record-setting effort to take runner-up at the 2004 NCAA Mideast Regional May 28.
Also gaining All-America status was Goodwin (Prospect, Ky./ Ballard), who added a sixth-place leap of 44-7.50 to score three team points. Goodwin’s mark shattered her own Ohio State record of 43-7.75 set two weeks ago in a runner-up performance at the Mideast meet. Both Goodwin and Lofton won All-America acclaim at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Two additional Buckeyes gained All-America status in events held Friday. Senior Joel Brown (Baltimore, Md./ Woodlawn) closed his OSU career by breaking his own school record to take third-place in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. For the women, sophomore Amarachi Ukabam (Creve Couer, Mo./ Marquette) placed sixth in the discus.
2004 Ohio State All-Americans Men Joel Brown – 110m Hurdles Aaron Fisher – Steeplechase Rob Myers – 1,500m Dan Taylor – Hammer Shot Put Women Rosalind Goodwin – Triple Jump Keturah Lofton – Hammer Amarachi Ukabam – Discus
Final Team Rankings
Male Team Scores Pl School Points 1 Arkansas 65.50 2 Florida 49 3 LSU 31 4 OHIO STATE 30 4 TCU 30 4 SMU 30 7 Baylor 27
Female Team Scores Pl School Points 1 UCLA 69 2 LSU 68 3 Nebraska 58 4 Texas 42 5 Florida 29 T32 OHIO STATE 7
Complete event results and team standings are available at www.texassports.com . Results will be distributed later Sunday.
