2007 Women’s Track and Field Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Jan. 5, 2007
Karen Dennis begins her first season as head coach of Ohio State women’s track and field in 2007. A split program for the first time since 1993, the women’s team returns several accomplished veterans, who have experienced success in Big Ten competition and on a nation scale. That group will have the opportunity to mesh with a talented assembly of newcomers in 2007.
“I am excited for this opportunity,” Dennis, a Detroit native who ran collegiately at Michigan State, said. “We plan to make great strides in this new era at Ohio State and refocus attention to the superior product we have here and move in a winning direction.
“Ohio State has a great tradition. There are so many great teams here and I’m proud to be a part of that. I want to make Ohio State the premier team in the conference and a top team nationally.”
Dennis, in her third stint as a head coach, having previously directed the Michigan State and UNLV women’s programs, welcomes back a pair of Big Ten champions in sprinter Jenna Harris and high jumper Jessica Stringer. Both All-Big Ten and All-District NCAA Academic award winners, Harris and Stringer have combined to claim five Big Ten titles in their careers. Harris won the 60-meter and 100-meter dashes at the 2005 indoor and outdoor Big Ten meets, while Stringer has won the last three league high jump titles at the 2006 indoor and 2005 and ’06 outdoor meets.
Fellow seniors Janell Mitchell, Melanie Price and Veronica Vance also add leadership. Price, who owns the Ohio State record in the steeplechase, will captain a veteran distance squad. Mitchell will represent the Buckeyes in sprints, hurdles, relays and jumps, while Vance will look to score again at the Big Ten meet in the long and triple jump events. Vance, a transfer in 2005 from Bowling Green, topped the Buckeyes in the long and triple jumps during both the indoor and outdoor campaigns and will vie for a league crown this season. Several underclassmen gained valuable experience in 2006. In her first season with the Scarlet and Gray, Ayrizanna Favours earned All-Big Ten second-team honors in the outdoor 400 meters and qualified for her first NCAA Mideast Regional. Fellow sophomores Bever-Liegh Holloway (hurdles), Jessica Jones (sprints/relays) and Chandra Krempel bolster a solid Buckeye sprints squad and combine with Harris and Mitchell to present a formidable relay units as well. The group set the OSU indoor 4x400m relay record last season, turning in a 3:39.95.
Kim Willet, Ohio State’s pole vault record-holder, is back for her sophomore season as well, while classmate Veronica Jatsek is the top returning thrower.
SCHEDULE
Ohio State’s season kicks off at the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Ky., Jan. 12 before heading to Big Ten country in back-to-back trips to Bloomington, Ind., for a tri-meet with Indiana and Purdue (Jan. 20) and the Indiana Invitational (Jan. 26-27).
The Buckeyes head for another Big Ten site for the Sykes-Sabock Challenge in State College, Pa., Feb. 10, prior to returning to Columbus to play host to the regular-season finale Buckeye Invitational (Feb. 17) in French Field House.
The league indoor championships are slated to run Feb. 24-25 in Champaign, Ill. After Ohio State student-athletes attempt a final time to qualify for the national meet March 2-3 at the Alex Wilson Last Chance in South Bend, Ind., those who gain a NCAA bid will compete March 8-10 in Fayetteville, Ark.
The outdoor slate gets underway March 21-24 at the Arizona State Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. The Buckeyes head back to their home state April 6-7 for the All-Ohio Championships in Cincinnati.
Ohio State will utilize a selected squad to compete the next two weeks at the Sea Ray Relays April 13-14 in Knoxville, Tenn., and Oregon Invitational (April 20-21) in Eugene, Ore. Select members of the team also will travel the next week (April 25-28) to either the Penn Relays, Drake Relays or Stanford Invite.
Ohio State’s feature home event is the Jesse Owens Track Classic, held May 4-5 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. “The Jesse” will celebrate its 22nd running in 2007.
This season, the Mideast Regional will be hosted by the University of Missouri and run May 25-26, two weeks prior to the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships, which again will be held in Sacramento, Calif.
