Bobcats set three school records in first meet

by Ryan Ernst
Assistant Sports Editor

The Ohio men's and women's indoor track and field teams opened their seasons Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va. at the WVU Invite. The men captured first place in two events, while the women wasted no time in setting three school records in the young season.

Jill Meranda set the school record in the pole vault with a height of 10 feet, while Monique Taylor finished second in the triple jump with a school record jump of 11.71 meters. Melody Royster capped off the record-setting day with a third-place finish in heat two of the 60-meter hurdles and a time of 8.85 seconds.

Ohio coach Elmore Banton said the school-best performances bode well for the future of his teams.

"This was a non-scoring meet, almost like a scrimmage," he said. "And for them to come out and set three school records in the first meet of the season means a lot."

The women also swept the top two spots in the high jump with Michelle Borsz clearing 5 feet 7 inches and Sarah List clearing 5 feet 1 inch.

For the men, Eli Kiener took first place in the shot put with a score of 15.98, while James Taylor won the high jump with a clearing height of 6 feet 11 3/4 inches.

Banton said the meet showed him which team members worked hard during winter break and which ones decided to relax.

"We had a good fall, but with some kids you just don't know what you're going to get when they come back," he said. "Some kids you could just tell worked hard when they were home, and some of them didn't, but for the most part our kids used the break to improve on fall practices."

Banton said he was impressed with the overall performance of both of his teams.

"I was hoping that they were going to come out and perform like this, but you're never quite sure," he said. "Overall I think it was the strongest performance we've had in the first meet of the season in at least four years."

The men's and women's teams are back in action Friday when they travel to Cincinnati for a tri-meet with the Bearcats and the Dayton Flyers.