Buckeyes Seek Bids to 2007 NCAA Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 23, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s track and field team travels to Columbia, Mo., for the 2007 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, Friday and Saturday, hosted by the University of Missouri.
2007 MIDEAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MEET INFO
Days: Friday – 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Saturday – 11 a.m. – 7:20 p.m.
Venue: Audrey J. Walton Stadium
Meet Information: www.mutigers.com
BUCKEYES GRAB POSTSEASON HONORS
Ayrizanna Favours and Veronica Jatsek, members of the Ohio State women’s track and field team, received 2007 All-Big Ten honors from the league office May 16. Jatsek set an outdoor conference meet record in winning the hammer championship, while Favours raced to a runner-up time in the 200-meter dash.
Jatsek, from Walton Hills, Ohio, extended to 208 feet, 2 inches for her first career Big Ten title and Ohio State’s second league hammer crown in the last four seasons. Jatsek’s heave bested the meet record held by former Buckeye Keturah Lofton, who won the 2004 conference title with a distance of 200-7. Jatsek’s mark rates second in the Mideast region. All-time at Ohio State, Jatsek’s heave stands second to Lofton’s 209-0 3/4 mark set last season. Jatsek also garnered Ohio State’s Big Ten Sportsmanship award. Her brother, Lenny Jatsek, was named Ohio State’s Sportsmanship honoree on the men’s side as well. Lenny placed in the Top 5 in a pair of events at the outdoor championships last weekend. In the 2007 indoor season, he successfully defended his weight throw conference crown.
Favours, from Columbus Eastmoor Academy, clocked a season-best time of 23.71 to cross the finish line in second place in the 200m and earn her second-team honor. Favours also was a second-team award winner at the 2007 Big Ten Indoor Championships.
LAST TIME OUT: BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday, May 11 – Ohio State opened competition at the 2007 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Penn State University. Junior Veronica Jatsek led the Buckeyes on day one with a win in the hammer throw that set a new Big Ten record in the event by 7 feet, 7 inches.
Jatsek won the event with a season-best toss of 208 feet 2 inches. It was the second-best throw in Ohio State history and the eighth-best mark in the country this year. The throw will also send Jatsek to the NCAA mideast regional next week in Columbia, Mo., where it will be the second best mark in the field. Jatsek broke the old Big Ten meet record set by former Buckeye Keturah Lofton of 200 feet, 7 inches set in 2004.
Saturday, May 12 – The second day of the championships was filled with preliminaries on the track. The women’s 4×100-meter dash team qualified for the finals with a season-best time of 46.69. In the prelims of the 400-meter dash, Chandra Krempel qualified for the final with a time of 55.54. In the 200-meter dash, Ayrizanna Favours raced her way into the finals with a time of 24.39.
In the field, Veronica Vance came in eighth in the long jump with a season-best leap of 19-9 ¾. Veronica Jatsek added a sixth-place finish in the shot put (46 feet, 4 ¾ inches) to her Big Ten title she won in the hammer throw.
Sunday, May 13 – Ohio State was led on the final day of competition by sophomore sprinter Favours, who was the top Buckeye placer with a runner-up mark in the 200-meter dash. She helped Ohio State total 35 team points, which ranked 10th.
Favours, who was an All-Big Ten honoree in the 2007 indoor season, crossed the finish line in 23.71 seconds for her No. 2 finish in the 200m. Later, she anchored the 4×400-meter relay to a sixth-place time of 3:42.55.
Senior jumpers Jessica Stringer and Veronica Vance closed their Big Ten careers with scoring performances. Stringer, the two-time defending conference outdoor high jump champion, cleared a season-best 5 feet, 10 ½ inches, but fell shy of a third-consecutive win and took third. Vance posted a Top 5 finish in the triple jump, reaching a season-best 41-3 ¾. Both marks for the senior jumpers served as qualifiers for NCAA Mideast regional meet held May 25-26 in Columbia, Mo.
Sophomore Chandra Krempel added one team point for the Buckeyes with an eighth-place mark (55.19) in the 400-meter dash.
JATSEK A FAVORITE IN HAMMER, WINS FIRST BIG TEN CROWN
Her brother, Lenny Jatsek, has a pair of Big Ten titles in the men’s weight. Now, Veronica Jatsek has a league crown of her own. A second-place finisher in the weight at the 2007 indoor conference meet, she followed Lenny’s footsteps in becoming an All-American in the event at the 2007 NCAA Indoor meet. Veronica posted the top hammer mark in the conference during the regular season at 201-9 1/4, nearly 7 feet better than the No. 2-rated hammer mark.
Jatsek won the Big Ten hammer crown with a meet record toss of 208 feet 2 inches. That is the second-best in Ohio State history and the second-best toss in the Mideast regional.
HARRIS MISSED AT BIG TEN’S
Ohio State had to do without a combined 49 points contributed by sprinter Jenna Harris in the last two Big Ten meets, at the 2007 Big Ten Conference Championships. A redshirt in the 2007 outdoor season, Harris posted 26 points with a second-place score in the 200m and third in the 100m last season, while running in a pair of third-place relays. In 2005, Harris won the women’s 100m at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, highlighting a 23-point effort individually and in relays.
NOT DOING HER COMPETITION ANY FAVOURS
Sophomore Aryrizanna Favours is one of the most versatile sprinters in the Big Ten this season and ranked seventh or better in three events. Heading into the Big Ten championships she ratee fourth in the conference in the 400m with a top time of 54.32, set April 21. She also is ranked sixth in the 200m (24.16/ May 5) and seventh in the 100m (11.9/ May 5).
The Columbus native also anchors the women’s 4×100-meter relay and helped the Buckeyes set a season-best of 47.20 at the Jesse Owens Classic May 5.
Favours recently scored 26 team points for the Buckeyes at the All-Ohio Championships. She did it with wins in the 200m and 400m dashes, and a fourth-place finish in the 100m.
Favours is making a name for herself as one of the best sprinters in Ohio State history. With her time at the 2007 Big Ten Outdoor Championships Favours now also holds the fifth-best time in Ohio State history in the 200-meter dash (23.71). Favours is still after the school record held by Donica Merriman of 23.02 set in 1999. She currently holds two of the top five times in Ohio State history in the indoor 400m (3rd-53.47, T4th-54.14). Favours has also been a member of the last three 4×400-meter relays teams to break the indoor school record (2006-3:39.95; 2007-Armory-3:39.77; 2007-Sykes-Sabock-3:38.63).
FORMER HEAD COACH Russ Rogers HONORED
The Ohio State men’s and women’s track and field teams held a banquet May 4 at the Huntington Club in Ohio Stadium. The function honored several track and field officials for decades of service. The event concluded by honoring former head coach Russ Rogers, who spent 18 season at Ohio State from 1989-2006.
Rogers, who retired June 5, 2006, mentored more than 100 men’s and women’s student-athletes to All-America status and helped lead more than 120 Buckeyes to Big Ten titles. Rogers produced back-to-back conference outdoor men’s team titles in 1992 and ’93. The Buckeyes also won the indoor team crown in 1993. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year following both the 1992 and ’93 seasons.
V FOR VICTORY AND VERONICA
At the Auburn Springtime Invitational March 24 both Veronica Vance and Veronica Jatsek opened the season with wins and NCAA regional marks.
Vance won the triple jump with a mark of 41-1 1/4, which was a track record. Vance’s leap is the third-best in the Big Ten this season. Jatsek won the hammer throw with a toss of 187-5, besting the field by 8-3. She currently leads the Big Ten and is No. 11 in the nation with a season-best heave of 201-9 1/4.
HARRIS, JATSEK SCORE ALL-AMERICA HONORS AT INDOOR NATIONALS
Ohio State had two student-athletes earn All-American honors at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships March 10. Jenna Harris finished eighth in the 400m dash final in a time of 53.31.
In field events, junior Veronica Jatsek placed seventh in the weight throw to earn her first All-America honor at a distance of 66-9 3/4.
THE JATSEKS: AN ALL-AMERICAN FAMILY
A year after her brother, Lenny Jatsek, captured All-America honors by finishing 13th in the weight throw at the 2006 NCAA indoor meet, Veronica Jatsek added another national award to the family. Veronica, competing in her first NCAA championships, placed seventh in the weight throw to earn her first All-America honor at a distance of 66-9 3/4.
HARRIS SHATTERS OSU 400-METER MARK
Jenna Harris, running in just her third 400m event of the 2007 season, established a program record in advancing to the national final in the event at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. Harris clocked a time of 52.74 to place fourth in the preliminary round. That mark snapped a 24-year old OSU standard set by 1988 U.S. Olympian Diane Dixon, who set the record at 53.17 Feb. 19, 1983. In the final, Harris took eighth (53.31).
NO HALTING HARRIS INDOORS, BUT SENIOR WILL REDSHIRT OUTDOORS
Jenna Harris made the most of her indoor senior season, rewriting the Ohio State record books, but she will sit out the 2007 outdoor season as a redshirt. Harris set the Buckeye 400m record at indoor nationals (52.74) and took aim at two additional school record so far this season. As a member of the 4×400-meter relay team, Harris helped set the OSU record at the New Balance Invite with a time of 3:39.77. She was part of the team that broke that record a week later in a time of 3:38.63 at Penn State.
Harris almost took down another school record in winning the Big Ten championships in the 60-meter dash. She set a personal best time of 7.35, just three-hundredths of a second off the school record.
OSU TAKES BOTH BIG TEN ATHLETE OF THE WEEK AWARDS FEB. 20
Sophomore Ayrizanna Favours claimed her second career Big Ten track athlete of the week award and sophomore Veronica Jatsek claimed her first league field athlete of the week award Feb. 20.
Favours takes home her second career Big Ten honor exactly one year after claiming her first Feb. 21, 2006. Favours led the Buckeyes on the track Saturday at the Buckeye Invitational with an NCAA provisional mark of 7.43 to win the 60-meter dash. Her time is the fifth best mark in Ohio State history and is the third different NCAA provisional mark for Favours this season. Favours also has provisional marks in the 400-meter dash (53.47) and she is also a member of school record-holding 4×400-meter relay (3:38.62).
Jatsek took home her first weekly award by leading the Buckeyes in the field at the Buckeye Invitational. Jatsek won the shot put and weight throw with season best marks on both events. She claimed top honors the weight with an NCAA provisional mark of 68 feet, 1 ½ inches and won the shot put with a toss of 49-7 3/4. Jatsek’s mark in the weight is the best in the Big Ten and ranks fifth in the country this season. It also is the fourth-best mark in Ohio State history. Her mark in the shot is fourth in the Big Ten this season. Jatsek shared the award with Peaches Roach of Iowa, who hit 6-0 in the high jump.
OSU PAIR GRABS POSTSEASON INDOOR HONORS
The Big Ten announced its all-conference teams following the 2007 Women’s Indoor Championships in Champagne, Ill. Ohio State had two of the team’s top competitors honored.
Senior Jenna Harris was named first-team All-Big Ten with her win in the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.35. Harris edged Illinois’ Yvonne Mensah by .01 seconds to claim her second 60m Big Ten title of her career, adding to her 2005 crown. Harris’ time in the 60m is the second best in Ohio State history and .03 off the school record. Harris now holds five of the Top 6 times in the Buckeye record books and is still after Donica Merriman’s school record of 7.32. The time by Harris is the 21st best in the country this season. Harris adds the 60m mark to her time of 53.27 in the 400-meter dash which ranks ninth in the country this season and second in Ohio State history.
Junior Veronica Jatsek was named second team All-Big Ten with her second-place finish in the weight throw. Jatsek’s toss of 68-5 3/4 is the fourth-best in Ohio State history and a season-best. It is an NCAA provisional qualifying toss and sixth-best in the country this season. Jatsek had the best throw by a non-senior by 12-11 1/4. It is Jatsek’s first Big Ten postseason award. Jatsek’s brother, Lenny, also took Big Ten honors in the weight throw after winning the league title in the men’s event. It is the first time that a brother-sister combination has taken All-Big Ten honors in the same year since Tonya and Tyrone Williams of Illinois were both on the All-Big Ten team in 1995.
BUCKEYES INK STANDOUT HIGH JUMPER
Karen Dennis, Ohio State women’s track and field head coach, announced the signing of recruit Laura Allred, a high jumper from Cypress, Texas. A participant in the 2006 U.S. Junior Nationals meet, Allred owns a personal-best mark of 5 feet, 8 inches.
Allred holds the high jump record at Cy-Fair High School and helped the team to district championships in each of the last two seasons. A participant in the 2006 U.S. Junior Nationals meet, Allred claimed the 2005 and 6 district high jump titles. She also was named district jumper of the year the last two seasons.
“We are excited about Laura signing in the early signing period, Dennis, in her first season as Ohio State head coach, said. She is the fourth best high school high jumper returning for the 2007 year. She is smart, highly motivated and really studies her craft. We believe with hard work she will become one of the finest high jumpers in our conference, and nationally. It’s also good to have made an impact on the great state of Texas.”
Allred was a 2006 Jr. Olympic qualifier and National Youth Elite Athlete All-American. She was named to the 2006 All-Greater Houston Track and Field Team after taking third place at the Texas Relays. Overall, Allred has 18 event titles in her scholastic career.
A Special Olympics volunteer, Allred is a member of the Cy-Fair honor roll and serves as a mentor in her community.
WILLING HER WAY TO THE TOP
Sophomore Kim Willet tied the third best mark in school history in the pole vault during the indoor season with her winning jump at Akron of 11-11 3/4. the mark gives Willet the second- and third-best marks in Ohio State history in the pole vault. Willet is still after Becky Heintz school record of 12-5 1/2 set in 2004.
UP NEXT
Ohio State will have a week off to prepare for the 2007 NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif., June 6-9.
