Neither men's nor women's indoor track teams came away with first place at the All-Ohio meet at Ohio Wesleyan University this past Saturday.
When the men's team finished in seventh place with 36 points and the women in third, Coach Doug Welsh was anything but upset. "We didn't put a lot of our people in multiple events," he said.
There isn't much time for the athletes to rest in between the indoor and outdoor track seasons. The indoor OAC Championships were held March 7th and 8th. The first scored meet of the outdoor season started only 21 days later.
Natalie Yost, a sophomore sprinter has struggled with leg injuries. While dealing with the pain of two troubled hamstrings she still "wants to get out there and score points."
This past Saturday was the first time that Yost has missed the 100-meter dash finals. Yost isn't the only one dealing with pain.
Senior Ryan Kennedy has continued competing with severe shin splints. "The track is like concrete," Kennedy explained. "You see guys in the training room everyday, everyone is tired and everyone's legs are shot."
Kennedy described his shins as, "hurting all the time," but it hasn't stopped him from competing. "It doesn't hurt when I compete," said Kennedy. "There is too much adrenaline."
Even with his injury Kennedy was able to finish fourth in the 400-meter dash and helped the 4 x 400 meter relay in a fifth-place finish.
Depth certainly is not on the side of the men's outdoor team this season. "From the start of indoor track till now [the team has] lost 12 to 14 guys," said Kennedy.
Welsh is proud of his team's effort. "They compete hard, they're not negative, and they come ready to work," he said. "What can I say about those guys, I'm proud of them."
Ashley Suffel won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:17:73, earning 10 points. Nicole Reese won the 5000-meter run, earning another 10 points.
All-American Allyson Tobin continued her dominance at the shot put. Tobin won the event by out-throwing the next closest opponent by a full meter. Tobin hasn't lost in the shot put all season. In two of the three scored meets she has out-thrown the second-place competitor by a full meter. In the other meet, she was only two centimeters away from a full meter. However these are all points earned by hardened track veterans.
Freshman Emily Bonnette has been a light at the end of the tunnel for the underclassmen. Bonnette's first place in the long jump and 7th in the triple jump help the women's team to their third place finish.
Bonnette did many different events in high school and Welsh says she had to get used to specializing in only a few events. She says the determination and the team spirit really come from Coach Welsh's famous talks. "Coach's 'talks' really inspire and get us fired up," said Bonnette.
The next match for the women's team is April 19. t&c;
