Ohio tunes up for MAC championships

by Paul Shugar
Staff Writer

With all cylinders burned out after a competitive Ohio Quad meet, Ohio track and field coach Elmore Banton is calling his team in for an oil change at the Ohio Open this weekend.

"It will be a meet for us to be able to get in the blocks, come out hard and just sharpen up with some competition," Banton said. "We need to go through all of the motions to tune up for the (Mid-American Conference) meet."

Former Ohio athletes, distance runner Melissa Converse, hurdler Matt Kinsey and thrower Dennis Russo will be returning with about 12 other alumni. The Bobcats will compete against themselves and the alumni to stay sharp before the conference championships.

Distance runner Jacki Waller said this meet would be good for the team even though no other teams are actually traveling to Athens.

She said the meet is better than taking a week off.

"This meet will be a good confidence builder," Waller said. "The women's team feels really good going in, though."

Both the men and the women finished third last weekend in the Ohio Quad, but many of the members of the team will use this weekend to get their mind focused on the MAC Championships.

"We are just looking to run good, clean, solid races and improve on just the little things for MACs," hurdler Steve Schaub said.

Schaub said he is looking forward to racing Kinsey, who was his mentor when he first came to the track team.

"It's nice to watch them relive their glory days and for us to beat the people who were our idols," he said.

The Bobcats also will try other events they do not usually compete in so they can have some fun trying something new.

The laid back weekend also will allow the team to rest some injured members as well. The women have avoided a lot of problems caused by injury, but the men have several competitors trying to get healthy.

Decathlete Scott Trahey is recovering from a small stress fracture in the foot and sprinter/pole-vaulter R.J. Redd is trying to recover from a bruise to his back, which he suffered while pole-vaulting last weekend.

Waller said she hopes her team stays focused.

"We have to keep our sights fixed on what the ultimate goal is and keep that high intensity we had the last two weeks and keep that going into next weekend," she said.

Ohio will take its last step to that goal as the meet starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at Goldsberry Track.