Buckeyes Bluegrass Bound for Rod McCravy Memorial – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Jan. 22, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State track and field team returns to action this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23-24, at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky.
The meet promises to pose an early season test for both the 24th-ranked men and the Buckeye women. The field features eight ranked opponents on the men’s side, including top-ranked Florida and No. 3 Arkansas, as well as seven of the Top-10 teams in the nation on the women’s side, led by the No. 1 Gators.
Events on both Friday and Saturday are slated for a 10 a.m. ET start. Live results are available at the above link, and a complete recap will be available at the end of each day of competition at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
SEC Network+ will carry live coverage of Saturday’s events beginning at Noon ET. SEC Network+ is available to SEC Network subscribers and cable providers through WatchESPN/ESPN3.com. A link to the live stream is available above.
Competing Teams
Arkansas (Men: No. 3/Women: No. 7)
Baylor
Florida (Men: No. 1/Women: No. 1)
Florida State (Men: No. 20/Women No: 9)
Georgia (Men: No. 11/Women: No. 4)
Illinois
Kentucky (Women: No. 6)
LSU (Men: No. 10)
Miami
Missouri (Women: No. 24)
Ohio State (Men: No. 24)
Oregon (Men: No. 2/Women: No. 3)
Texas (Men: No. 8/Women: No. 5)
USC
Virginia
#StrongerTogether
Stronger Together is the official team motto of the 2015 Buckeyes as the squad embarks on its first season as a combined program in nine years. #StrongerTogether will be featured throughout the season in social media posts.
Buckeyes in the USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings
The Buckeye men are ranked 24th in the USTFCCCA Division I Indoor Track & Field Preseason Poll, released Jan. 6.
OSU totaled 31.66 points in the season-opening poll, finishing .05 points behind 23rd-ranked UCLA. Six Big Ten teams are featured in the Top 25: No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 14 Purdue, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 22 Michigan State and the Buckeyes. Florida is the preseason No. 1-ranked team, followed by No. 2 Oregon and third-ranked Arkansas.
Redshirt sophomore Donovan Robertson (No. 3, 60-meter hurdles) and senior Timothy Faust (No. 7, 200-meter dash; No. 21, 60-meter dash) are ranked among the Top 25 in their respective events, along with the Buckeyes’ 4×400-meter relay team (No. 11).
The OSU women open the season ranked 66th overall. Four Big Ten rivals are represented in the Top 25: No. 14 Maryland, No. 15 Michigan, No. 19 Michigan State and No. 22 Wisconsin. Florida is also the top-ranked women’s team in the preseason poll, followed by No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 3 Oregon.
Week One rankings are scheduled for release Jan. 27.
Buckeyes in the Individual Top 25
Two individual athletes and three relay teams have posted among the Top 25 times in Division I this season according to Track & Field Results Reporting System (www.TFRRS.org). A look at where the Buckeyes sit:
Men
Robertson – No. 2, 60-meter hurdles
Champ Page – No. 8, 400-meter dash
Distance Medley (Steven Weaver, Page, Anthony Johnson, Jared Fleming) – No. 25
Women
Distance Medley – No. 12 (Helen Willman, Sakiko Minagawa, Katie Betts, Nicole Hilton)
4×400-meter relay – No. 18 (Aaliyah Barnes, Aisha Cavin, Beatrice Hannan, Alexandria Johnson)
Meet the Staff
Karen Dennis, in her first season as director of track & field and cross country, is assisted by:
• Associate head coach Brice Allen (distance/XC), entering his third season in Columbus having spent the previous two seasons as associate head coach of the Buckeye men’s team;
• Associate head coach Rosalind Joseph (jumps/multi-events), entering her seventh season at Ohio State. Joseph was associate head coach of the women’s team for two seasons and an assistant coach from 2008-2012;
• Second-year assistant Sara Vergote (distance/XC);
• First-year assistant Joel Brown (sprints/hurdles);
• First-year assistant Ashley Muffet Duncan (throws)
• Volunteer assistants Rob Banhagel (pole vault/decathlon), Brian Brillon (horizontal jumps), Richard Ebin (pole vault), Richard Jones (sprints) and Richard Warren (high jump);
• and Director of Operations Fred Barends
“It was important in making this transition that we have a cohesive staff with the same goals and same energies,” Dennis said. “We’ve got that. Now, it’s about transferring that vision and energy to our team.”
Last Time Out
Several members of the track and field team competed at the Auburn Indoor Invitational in Birmingham, Ala., last Saturday, Jan. 17.
A pair of runner-up finishes highlighted the men’s effort in Birmingham. Robertson was edged in a photo finish in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the line in a time of 7.897 behind Josh Thompson of LSU (7.891), while freshman Zack Bazile used a jump of 7.22 meters (23.825) to take the second position in the long jump behind Shawn Johnson, also from LSU (7.28 meters/23-10.75).
Two Buckeyes finished in the Top 5 of the men’s 400-meter dash. Sophomore LaMar Bruton was fourth in a time of 47.93 and Page, a junior, fifth in 48.20. Michael Cherry of Florida State was the winner in a time of 47.21 seconds.
Johnson, a sophomore, also notched a Top-5 finish for the Scarlet and Gray, placing fifth in the 800-meter run (1:54.24). Blair Henderson of LSU was first overall in 1:52.52.
The women were led by Barnes, who placed third in the 400-meter dash in a time of 55.63 seconds behind Kala Funderburk of Florida State (54.42). The sophomore from Columbus also ran the opening leg of the Buckeyes’ 4×400-meter relay, which won its heat and placed second overall behind LSU in a time 3:45.76, a Top-20 mark in Division I this season.
Senior Chesna Sykes was fourth in the 60-meter dash in 7.48 seconds. Mikiah Brisco of LSU took the title in 7.30 seconds.
Up Next
The Buckeyes return to Columbus on Friday, Jan. 30, for the Ohio State Invitational. Meet time is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET at St. John Arena. Admission is free.
