2008 Women’s Track and Field Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
The core of a young 2007 roster returns for the 2008 version of the Ohio State women’s track and field team. In 2008, second-year head coach Karen Dennis will mix in a collection of untested talent with three returning All-Big Ten performers, a pair of All-Americans and a record-setting 4×400-meter relay team.
“Our goal as a staff was to recruit around the talent we currently had on our roster,” Dennis said. “We have made improvements in the areas of increasing our depth as well as our team diversity. We are looking forward to the addition of incoming talent blending with the fine returning group of student athletes on our team.”
Senior All-Americans Jenna Griffin, formerly Jenna Harris, and Veronica Jatsek join junior Ayrizanna Favours as the undoubted leaders of the team. Harris has consistently ranked as one of the top sprinters in the Big Ten, owning three sprint titles in the last three seasons. In 2007, she displayed her versatility, winning the Big Ten 60-meter dash and then claiming All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 400 meters. She shattered the Ohio State indoor 400m record en route to her first All-American award.
Jatsek doubled as an All-American recipient in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. She was an All-American in the indoor weight after a second-place Big Ten finish in the event. Outdoors, she set the conference meet record on her way to earning the league title in the hammer. She added a seventh-place national finish a month later in the weight.
Favours has established herself as a contender at the conference level and now is on the doorstep of becoming one of the top 200-meter runners in the nation in her junior campaign. Last season, she was an all-conference performer in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
“Our upper classmen are the backbone of our team. They bring to the program leadership and excellence both on and off the track. As a team, individuals often feed off the strength of others,” Dennis said. ”That is what Jenna, Veronica, Ayrizanna and Chandra Krempel do best; they provide outstanding examples of what is expected to win. They have also been known to get in your face if you fail to uphold their team expectations. As a coach I appreciate that quality of commitment exemplified by student leaders in the athletic arena. Athletes on our team respect their peers.”
Favours and Harris were contributors to Ohio State’s record-setting 4×400-meter relay team that topped the program’s all-time mark indoors in 2007. Ashley Caldwell and Ashley Jones were part of that team as freshman. Junior Chandra Krempel also spent time on the 4x400m team the last two seasons.
“Our relays should be a lot of fun this year. With the incoming frosh Letecia Wright, Betheny Swanson and the return of redshirt frosh Saryna Ferguson we should be strong in every relay we put on the track from the short relays to the distance medley relays,” Dennis said. “When our relays are winning they give the entire team an exciting way to either start the meet, or end the day.”
In the field, Ashley Riehm comes off a redshirt season to add strength to the throws squad. Ohio State finds itself thin in experience in the jumps area. Jessica Stringer, a three-time Big Ten high jump champion, completed her career in 2007, as did Veronica Vance, one of the top triple jumpers in the conference. Rashana Lord will look to pick up where Vance left off in the horizontal jumps. Kim Willet will seek to break her own pole vault record in her senior season.
“We will have a young field group, however a talented group. Laura Allred will step into big shoes left by Jessica Stringer in the high jump, and Alana Gray, Chelsea James and Ashley Davis will be an exciting addition to the jumps and multi event areas,” Dennis said. “We also have some young throwers in Courtney Krempel, Molly Creamer and Aleese Lewis. Beth Bionca will join us in the pole vault area. It will take time for all of them to adapt to our level of competition, but they are smart and eager to learn.“
The distance area welcomes back several veteran runners, led by senior Laura Piper. Sarah Foster, Lydia Kern, Katie Koehler, Kelly Schwieterman, Rachel Stitchter and Emily Thompson will look to build upon their freshman seasons.
SCHEDULE
The indoor schedule starts Jan. 11-12 at Kentucky for the Rod McCravy Memorial before moving into Big Ten territory for the Indiana Gladstein Invitational Jan. 18-19 in Bloomington, Ind. The Buckeyes head back to Bloomington for the second week in a row for the Indiana Relays Jan. 25-26.
Several Buckeyes will step onto the national scene the next week at the New Balance/ New York Armory meet in New York City Feb. 8-9, while others will remain in the state of Ohio the prior week, traveling to the Akron Invitational Feb. 1-2.
Ohio State will return to Columbus to play host to its only home meet of the season, the Buckeye Invitational Feb. 16. The postseason begins March 1 with first-day action at the 2007 Big Ten Indoor Championships in Minneapolis.
After a short break, Ohio State will reconvene for the outdoor season, starting April 3-6 at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. The Buckeyes will remain in the west April 10-13 at the Mt. Sac Relays in Big Walnut, Calif.
For the second-consecutive season, the All-Ohio Championships will be contested in Cincinnati. The 2008 version will be contested April 18-19. Similar to the indoor season, Ohio State will run in a meet at the site of the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships June 4-7 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The Buckeyes will tune up at the Drake Relays April 24-26.
The outdoor regular season concludes with Ohio State’s only home meet, the 24th running of the Jesse Owens Classic May 2-3 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The meet highlights athletes from all levels, including high school, collegiate, post-collegiate and professional, and has a history of featuring future Olympic hopefuls.
The 2007 Big Ten Outdoor Championships are slated for Champaign, Ill., May 15-18 before the Buckeyes return to Fayetteville for the 2007 NCAA Mideast Regional meet.
