Bobcats compete well despite split

by Paul Shugar
Staff Writer

It was a weekend of daunting tasks for the Ohio men's track team, but half the team placed fifth at the Bearcat Invitational while the rest of the team went up against Olympic-caliber competition at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C.

With holes left in the sprinting and hurdling events because of the divided squad, the field events stepped up to score 61 of Ohio's 78 points in the Bearcat Invitational. But this was not enough to catch Cincinnati, which walked away with the meet title with 171.

"We proved this weekend that we are a pretty good team," coach Elmore Banton said. "I was very pleased with the success we had in the field."

Thrower Steve Godek placed first in the javelin with a throw of 183 feet 7 inches to just barely outdistance Brett Williamson who threw 182 feet 8 inches for second.

Thrower Eli Kiener continued his success with another win in the shot put with a throw of 53 feet 2 inches. Thrower Nick Pero also placed second in the hammer throw with a toss of 164 feet 8 inches.

Other hurdlers stepped up with top hurdler Steve Schaub in Raleigh. Chris Harper placed third in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.25 seconds. Jason Lanza also placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles in 56.23.

"The young members of our team really stepped up well for us and scored some points for us," jumper Kwasi Apraku-Gyau said.

Ohio fell to fifth against the competition with no scoring in sprinting events because the sprinters all were at the Raleigh Relays.

Sprinter Martin Jackson ran well in Raleigh for the Bobcats running through a stress fracture in his foot to an eighth-place finish in the 100-meter dash in 10.8. He also placed ninth in the 200-meter dash.

"I saw (Olympic gold medalist) Marion Jones there watching, and in the 1600-meter relay, I was racing against two Olympic gold medallists," he said.

Ohio competed well in the relays in Raleigh. The 400-meter relay placed seventh in a time of 41.46 seconds.

The rest of the relays placed 12th and 20th, but Banton said he was happy to see the 1600-meter relay team run a time of 3 minutes 15.69 seconds.

Ohio will play host to the McDonald's Invitational at 10 a.m. Saturday at Goldsberry Track around AstroTurf Field.