Women’s T&F: Buckeyes Finish Fifth at Big Ten Championships, 4×100 Relay Team Wins Title – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Ohio State’s 4x100m relay team sets school record; wins Big Ten title
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio State women’s track and field closed action at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships Sunday in fifth place with 74 points. The fifth-place finish is a five-place improvement from 2007. The Buckeyes were led on the final day by senior Jenna Griffin, a candidate for athlete of the championships.
“Our performance this weekend was extremely gratifying,” head coach Karen Dennis said. “After our last-place performance a year ago, seniors Jenna Griffin, Veronica Jatsek and Chandra Krempel promised the team we would not be last on their watch. Along with upper classmen Ayrizanna Favours, Bever-Leigh Holloway and Ashley Caldwell, this group showed great resolve which contributed to our strong rally on the final day of competition.
“We also had some fearless freshman in Letecia Wright and Alana Gray. Our women exceeded their personal bests, solidifed spots on our all-time performance lists, qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships and broke the school record in the 4x100m relay. I think for the smallest team in the conference we delivered the best punch.”
The 4×100-meter relay team of Bever-Leigh Holloway, Ayrizanna Favours, Letecia Wright and Jenna Griffin claimed the Big Ten title with the second-best time in Ohio State history with a mark of 44.63. This ends a big week end for the team that set the school record on Saturday with a season-best time of 44.51.
Griffin and Favours made their presence felt in the 200-meter dash final. Griffin took second in a regional qualifying time of 23.50 with her win the 100-meters and role on the Buckeye relay teams makes her a strong candidate for track athlete of the championships. Favours took third with a time of 23.63.
Wright returned later in the day to finish third in 100-meter hurdles final with a time of 13.45. Wright was the top freshman in the field and the only freshman to qualify for the final. The 4×400-meter of Chandra Krempel, Ashley Caldwell, Griffin and Favours finished second with a regional qualifying time of 3:37.34.
The Buckeyes will take next week off and then qualified athletes will head to the NCAA Mideast Regionals May 30-31 in Fayetteville Ark.
