When reflecting back on the 2008 women's indoor track and field season, one would find that the women hurdlers have many reasons to be proud. These leaping ladies demonstrated their strength from the beginning of the season and continued to strive forward, making their presence known in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC).
Highlighting the season for the hurdling team were the dynamic performances of: junior Lauren Rausch, junior Stacey Schall and graduate student Kelli Peirano. Also, rounding out the team with key contributions were: freshmen Sarah Petraitis, Lisa Coleman and Paris Anderson.
The first noteworthy performance that set the tone for the rest of the season came after the Kenyon Kick Off. During this meet, all six hurdlers placed within the top seven spots.
"From a hurdle-team standpoint, we obviously wanted to place first through third in the OAC meet," said Schall. "When we realized how talented our incoming freshmen were this season, we had hoped to place first through sixth, although we first wanted to get all six hurdlers into the final to beat our record of five in the final."
All thoughts were confident from the very start of the season. "My expectation at the beginning of the season was to be the best," said Anderson. "I figured if I was going to do it, then I needed to reach for the top."
As the season progressed, the Otterbein women hurdlers continued to clear all obstacles. The team took the top four spots from meets including: Baldwin-Wallace Mid-January meet, the Greater Columbus Invitational and the Last Call meet at Capital. They took the top three spots from the All-Ohio meet, and the OAC qualifier. They also captured the top two spots from the OAC relays at Ohio Northern and the OAC championships.
With times of 8.36 seconds and 8.48 seconds respectively, Rausch and Peirano both qualified for the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships on Friday and Saturday.
"It didn't come by luck; it came through everybody's hard work. I knew our women's team would be able to compete not only within our conference, but throughout the region," said Rausch.
As an individual, Rausch finished first in seven out of the nine indoor season meets. She finished first at the Kenyon Invitational, the Baldwin-Wallace Mid-January meet, the OAC relays, the Greater Columbus Invitational, the All-Ohio meet, the OAC qualifier and the OAC championships.
"I personally, and the rest of the hurdlers, all set high expectations for ourselves and our teammates, which is why I think we were so successful. If we ran a great time, it wasn't good enough," said Rausch. "We always put it behind us and tried to run even faster the next time. We were never satisfied with results and continued to improve with every opportunity."
During the season the six team members were able to leave their mark on the 55-meter hurdles by breaking and tying previous records.
"As a hurdle team, we managed to tie our record of five in the final, which was an amazing feeling to have an entire fast heat dedicated only to your team," said Schall. "We were also able to break our record of points earned in an event, scoring 30."
This successful season was in no way handed to these women. They put in the long hours and even ran into overtime. They started their off-season training in September. All of their hard work in the weight room and on the track paid off when it was time to compete.
"Preparing for the challenges faced with this year began immediately following last year's season. We knew we wanted to accomplish a lot this season and to do that we had to work hard in the off-season," said Rausch.
This hard work will continue to pay off as they look forward to spring. "We can only get better in the outdoor season, and this indoor season was only a great starting point from which to improve," said Schall.
OTTERBEIN:
-Captured top three spots at the All-Ohio Meet
-Rausch and Peirano qualified for Nat'l Championship
-Rausch won the OAC 55-meter hurdles
-Swept top three spots at OAC Championship
-Schall, Rausch and Peirano received All-OAC Honors
-Schall took All-OAC honors in the distance medley
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