Ohio State Returns to Columbus for Final Regular Season Meet – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 3, 2006
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Columbus, Ohio — The men’s and women’s track and field teams return to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Friday and Saturday for their final regular season meet when they play host to the 21st Jesse Owens Track Classic.
2006 Jesse Owens Track Classic
Days: Friday 4 p.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m – 8:30 p.m.
Venue: Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Meet Information: www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com
Event Results: www.deltatiming.com
Last Week: Recapping the Penn Relays
Members of the track and field teams completed three days of competition Saturday in the final events at the 106th running of the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
The throwers and relay teams highlighted the weekend for the men’s side. Pat Whalen won the college division of the shot put with a top mark of 57 feet. Friday, Lenny Jatsek heaved a seventh-place mark (52-4) in the collegiate shot put championship. He backed up that effort with a heave of 189-2 in the hammer Saturday for sixth place. Brian Olinger ran a second-place time (8:45.05) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase collegiate championship.
In the relays, the men’s distance medley consisted of freshmen Matt Comer and Jeff See, Gerald Griffin and Olinger and placed 10th (9:43.84) in the collegiate championships section. Adam Wilhelm joined Comer, Griffin and See in the sprint medley relay and finished sixth-place overall (3:23.89). For the women, Keturah Lofton heaved a season-best throw (197-5 ¾) to take third in the women’s hammer collegiate championship Thursday. Also in throws, Janine Zylinski took 12th in the women’s collegiate shot put championship (45-6). Jessica Stringer took seventh in the high jump (5-8 ¾).
Youth Is Being Served On The Men’s Team
The 2006 men’s team has been led this season by its underclassmen.
In the throwing events, sophomores Lenny Jatsek, the 2006 Big Ten indoor champion in the weight throw, and Patrick Whalen both have hit NCAA regional qualifying marks this season. Whalen has posted a qualifier in the shot and Jatsek in the shot and in the hammer.
Also in the field, Brandon Cathcart has led the men’s jumps team all season. Cathcart, a freshman, was the high school national champion last year in the triple jump and has the fourth best triple jump in the Big Ten this season. Cathcart’s leap of 50-11 1/4 also is the best jump of any freshman in the Big Ten.
On the track, freshman Jeff See has had an impressive rookie campaign. See, the 2005 National High School national champion in the mile, has hit NCAA regional qualifying marks in the mile and in the 1,500m this season.
Also on the track, sophomore Tony Cole 2005 Big Ten champion in the 60m-dash, has led the Buckeyes in sprints. Cole currently has the third best time in the 100m in the Big Ten.
Fast Freshman
Freshman Ayrizonna Favours is making a strong case for freshman of the year this season in the Big Ten.
Favours currently has the seventh best time in the 100m, the eighth best time in the 200m and the third best time in the 400m. All her marks are the best by a freshman this season in the Big Ten. Favours’ time in the 400m of 54.37 and her time in the 100m of 11.75 are both NCAA regional qualifying marks.
Favours also is a member of the women’s 4x100m team that has the fourth best time in the Big Ten.
Looking For Repeats
Both Jenna Harris and Jessica Stringer are looking to defend Big Ten titles this season.
Harris, the reigning 100m champion, has the seventh best mark in the Big Ten this season and the third best time in 200m.
Stringer is looking to defend her Big Ten title in the high jump. Stringer currently is the Big Ten indoor and outdoor champion in the high jump. Her best jump this season of 5-10 currently is tied for the second best in the Big Ten this season.
Olinger Takes Big Ten’s Top Spot in Steeple
Brian Olinger claimed the top spot in the Big Ten rankings in the 3,000m steeplechase April 29 at the Penn Relays. Olinger’s time of 8:45.05 is a regional qualifying mark and the sixth best time in the 3,000m steeplechase in Ohio State history.
Olinger is the leader of a group of four Ohio State runners ranked in the Top 16 in the Big Ten this season. No other team has more than three ranked in the Top 16 in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Olinger is continuing his assault on the Ohio State record book this year. In his first meet of the outdoor season at Stanford April 1, Olinger set the school record in the 10,000m. Olinger’s time of 28:54.68 broke the old mark set by Chris England of 29:01.29 in 1997.
Breaking records is nothing new for Olinger, who holds the indoor standard in the 5,000-meter run, which he set this season at the Husky Invitational (Feb.10-11) with his time of 13:45.94.
Olinger ran his first indoor 3,000m of the season at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational (Feb. 3-4). Even with a mild case of the flu, Olinger still rewrote the Ohio State record books with his time of 8:02.21, a mark that ranked fourth in Buckeye history. Olinger holds the second and fourth best times in Ohio State indoor history in the 3,000m. Olinger still is after the record for the best 3,000m which is held by Ohio State distance coach Robert Gary.
Harris Sprints To Big Ten Athlete Of The Week Honors
Jenna Harris was named Big Ten Female Co-Athlete of the Week in an announcement made by the league office. Harris scored a sweep of both the 100- and 200-meter dashes Saturday at the 2006 Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore.
Harris shared the Big Ten AOW with Penn State thrower Jennifer Leatherman.
For the second consecutive week, Harris was the highlight-performer for the Buckeyes on the track. The 2006 Big Ten 100m champion won both the 100m and 200m events with NCAA regional qualifying times of 11.72 and 23.73, respectively.
The Somerset, N.J. native currently rates 11th in the Mideast region in the 200m with her season-best time of 23.61 set April 15 at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn. That same mark also rates second in the Big Ten.
The weekly league honor is Harris’ first. She is the second Buckeye this outdoor season to claim league weekly honors. Lenny Jatsek, a sophomore thrower for OSU, won the award March 28.
Men’s Team In Top 25
In the Trackwire.com poll released April 24, the OSU men’s team jumped a spot to the No. 24 position after debuting at No. 25 April 17. The Buckeyes were ranked by trackwire.com at the beginning of the 2005 season and spent the entire 2004 campaign rated in trackwire.com’s Top 10. In 2004, the OSU men’s claimed a tie for fourth place at the NCAA championships.
Track And Field Pockets Back-To-Back OSU Athlete Of The Week
For the second consecutive week, an track and field student-athlete earned Ohio State athlete of the week honors after junior Jenna Harris swept the 100m and 200m dashes at Oregon with NCAA regional qualifying times of 11.72 and 23.73, respectively.
Last week, fellow junior and 2005 Big Ten winner Jessica Stringer was named OSU AOW after placing second in the women’s high jump at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn. Stinger cleared a winning height of 5 feet, 10 inches, which tied a season best.
Last Year At The Jesse Owens Track Classic
The Ohio State men’s and women’s track and field teams opened the 20th running of the Jesse Owens Track Classic at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. A pair of Buckeye sprinters – Todd Dutch and Jenna Harris – timed NCAA Mideast Regional qualifying marks in both the 100-and 200-meter dashes, while former Buckeye All-Americans Joel Brown and Rob Myers were featured competitors in the invitational events.
Harris regionally qualified for the 100-meter dash with a second-place time of 11.68 and later timed 23.90 to take second in the 200m for her second qualifier. The sophomore from Somerset, N.J. also helped the 4×100-meter relay team clocked a season-best 46.83 after a strong finish in the final leg.
Dutch turned in a winning time in the men’s 100-meter dash in a personal-best and regional-qualifying 10.30 to best J. Brown, who clocked 10.32 as a competitor for World Express Track Club. Dutch ran the second leg for the men’s in the 4x100m as they also set a season best 41.18 to finish first. In the 200m, Brown won the event in 20.55 ahead of Dutch, who clocked 20.83, which also served as a regional mark.
The longer track events saw OSU senior Tamecia Brown win the women’s 800-meter run in 2:13.38, while Laura Piper grabbed top honors in the mile in a season-best 4:55.04 ahead of teammate Melanie Price, who ran 4:57.81.
In the field events, freshman Marios Iacovou became just the third Buckeye to top the 7-foot mark in school history, reach 7-0 ¼ to win the men’s high jump invite. For the women, senior Rosalind Goodwin completed her sweep of the horizontal jumps Saturday with a 19-11 1/2 in the long jump after winning the triple with a season-best 43-6 Friday. Sophomore Jessie Stringer took second the high jump, clearing the bar at 5-7.
In the throws, Senior Shelaine Larson continued to set season-bests after a top throw of 2005 in the hammer Friday. Larson reached 46-8 3/4 for runner up in the shot put and 150-7 for third in the discus.
Brown was one of a pair of former Buckeye All-Americans to turn in a strong performance on the track. Rob Myers, who placed third in the mile at the U.S. Olympic Trials last July, ran in the mile invite and took first in the mile invite, breaking the 4:00 mark with a winning time of 3:59.55.
Jatsek Named March 28 Big Ten Track and Field Male Co-Athlete of the Week
Lenny Jatsek, a sophomore thrower on the Ohio State men’s track and field team, shared Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors, the conference office announced March 28. At the 2006 Walt Disney World Invitational, Jatsek won the men’s shot put and placed fifth in the hammer throw.
In his first competition of the outdoor season, the 2006 Big Ten indoor weight throw champion posted a NCAA regional qualifying mark to win the shot. He placed first in the event with a personal-best distance of 57 feet, 9 inches (17.60 meters).
In the opening day of the Disney Invite Jatsek placed fifth in the hammer throw, reaching a mark of 179-3 1/4 (54.64m). The Walton Hills, Ohio native also earned the league’s indoor weekly honor Jan. 24.
Jatsek shared this week’s AOW award with Purdue junior sprinter/hurdler Rickey Pinkney.
Buckeyes Go 5-for-5 at Indoor Nationals
Ohio State sent five student-athletes to the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships (March 10-11) and all five walked away with All-America honors. Seniors Brian Olinger and Keturah Lofton gained their second-career indoor honors in the 5,000-meter run and weight throw, respectively. Junior Jessica Stringer gathered her first All-American award in the women’s high jump, while sophomore thrower Lenny Jatsek also earned his first in the men’s weight. Freshman Janine Zylinski made her NCAA championships debut and reached All-America status in the shot put.
Buckeyes Land Top Recruit
The Ohio State men’s track and field and cross country teams will add one of the best distance runners in the state of Ohio in 2006-07 seasons. Chad Balyo of Springboro, Ohio signed his national letter of intent to Ohio State during the early signing period this fall. Balyo was the 2005 Division 1 Ohio cross country champion. Balyo currently holds the best indoor time in the nation in the 2-mile for high school runners with a time of 9:10.
“It has been a goal of our program to recruit the best distance runners in Ohio.” Ohio State head cross country coach and distance coach Robert Gary said. “The past two seasons we have qualified for the NCAA championships with a roster made up of Ohio only athletes. I feel we got the best this year and am very excited to add him to a very young team.”
Lofton Makes Triumphant Return
After missing all of last season, senior thrower Keturah Lofton made a triumphant return to competition during the indoor season. The former Big Ten champion and two-time All-American won the weight throw at Kentucky and was runner-up at Indiana.
Lofton’s return was capped at the Big Ten Championships when she set the school record with a throw of 69-5 1/4. This mark also sent her to the NCAA Indoor championships where she earn All-American honers.
Outdoors, Lofton also has picked up where she left off. She has two hammer throws this season of nearly 200 feet and has qualified for the NCAA Mideast regional in the event. The current Big Ten record holder in the hammer will go after her second league title in the event next week at the Big Ten meet.
Buckeyes Receive Indoor Honors
The Big Ten announced its 2006 Men’s and Women’s Track and Field All-League Teams on March 1. Ohio State’s Leonard Jatsek and Jessica Stringer each were named to the first team after claiming league titles in the men’s weight throw and the women’s high jump, respectively. Both the Buckeye men’s and women’s teams finished sixth at their respective conference meets at Iowa and Wisconsin.
Stringer posted the second-best high jump mark in Ohio State history en route to winning her second consecutive conference championship in the event. The native of Franklin, Ind., cleared 5 feet, 11 3/4 inches to claim victory at Wisconsin. She won the 2005 Big Ten Outdoor High Jump Championship at home last season in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Jatsek became the third Ohio State student-athlete to win the weight in the last four seasons. Former Buckeye All-American Dan Taylor won the league title in 2003 and `04. Bryan Duby took first place in the event last season. This year, Jatsek’s heave of 68-2 1/4 topped the conference field.
The men’s distance medley team of Taylor Candella, Gerald Griffin, Joe Gourley and Jeff See also combined to claim first-team honors after winning the event. The group shattered the former Ohio State record of 9:51.05 set in 1995, cruising to the finish line in 9:47.78.
Also for the men, two-time All-American Brian Olinger was a second-team honoree in the 5,000 meters. OSU throwers also grabbed second team honors for the women. Senior and two-time All-American Keturah Lofton was runner-up in the weight at 69-5 1/4, while freshman Janine Zylinski also took second in the shot put at a career-best 52-1 1/4.
Up Next
Ohio State men’s and women’s teams head to the Big Ten championships in Lansing, Mich., May 12-14 hosted by Michigan State.
