Jumper Houlihan Heads To NCAA Championship
BY BRIAN PITTS

Oberlin triple jumper Shannon Houlihan proved herself to be the genuine article in last weekend’s NCAC Indoor Championships, held at Denison University. And by gosh, she’s headed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the NCAA Championships this weekend.

First-year Houlihan led the women to an overall third place finish by winning the triple jump with a NCAA provisional qualifying and NCAC indoor record distance of 36’11”. The men finished eighth out of 10 teams, as they were bolstered by the young 4x200-meter squad, who finished in second place.

The women maintained their season-long hold on third place in the NCAC, behind Denison and Allegheny, by dominating the triple and long jump events. They also earned many of their points by posting second place finishes in the 3000-meter and 55-meter hurdles, and by sophomore Courtney Stackhouse posting a first-place NCAC-record finish in the 55-meter dash and a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash.

But the weekend’s spotlight shone most brightly on Houlihan. The first-year has performed as Oberlin’s best triple jumper this season, improving at every meet. She capped off the season with her best jump of the year on the first of three tries. She was naturally pleased with the results.

“It was really exciting. The coaches didn’t tell me about qualifying for the NCAA’s until after the second and third jumps,” Houlihan said. “The whole team came over to cheer us and was clapping us on.”

Oberlin’s men, who were not expected to win many points last weekend, surprised the competition but not themselves, finishing second in the 4x200-meter relay. 
The squad was powered by the respective start and anchor of first-year runners Mark Lengel and Quammie Semper, junior 400-meter speedster Andre Street and first-year Jeremy Lane, who ran one of his strongest 200 legs of the season.

The Yeowomen also enjoyed much success thanks to long distance runner and sophomore Laura Feeney. Feeney not only earned fourth place in the 5000-meter run on the opening day of competition, but also returned the next day to obtain second place in the 3000-meter run.

Feeney started the 3000-meter race in the back half of the pack of runners, but took advantage of the early front-runners who set too fast a pace. In the middle of the race, Feeney aggressively moved to surpass the tiring runners ahead. She held the lead until the final lap, when a Wooster senior, who won Outstanding Middle Distance Runner of the Year, barely squeezed by her. It was Feeney’s mid-race tactics, however, that secured her second place. 
Assistant coach Roger Laushman credited Feeney for running a smart race. “Laura made a bold move by pushing the pace in the middle of the race. She ran a very controlled, smart race,” Laushman said.
Oberlin’s men earned points by the fourth place finish in the distance medley relay, consisting of the team of seniors Daniel Schwartz and David Bevacqua, and first-years Alex Scally and Lane. The relay team set a new Oberlin College record of 10:50.26.

In addition, senior Jabari Spruill, a newcomer to Oberlin track and field, posted fourth and fifth place finishes. Junior Dan Blackburn, who was possibly competing in his last indoor meet, also scored in the shot-put. By doing so, Blackburn became the first Yeoman in four years to score in the NCAC Championships in the shot-put.