Houlihan Leading
BY BRIAN PITTS

First-year Shannon Houlihan captured gold in the triple jump at last Saturday’s Division III All-Ohio Meet at Ohio Wesleyan University with a NCAA Provisional Qualifying length of 37’ 7.25”. She led the women to a 7th place finish of 16 teams. The men finished 15th of 16 teams.

Houlihan, the NCAC Indoor Triple Jump champion, outdistanced her championship jump from March by eight inches. Being a NCAA provisional qualifier means Houlihan has earned a chance to compete at the national competition, depending on the number of automatic qualifiers. If there is room for more competitors, Houlihan is in — with at least two more meets remaining in the indoor season.
“It’s good to know at this point we can compete,” Houlihan said.
The win is even more satisfying for the Oberlin first-year since she beat her chief rival, senior Justina Williams of Wooster. Williams, who won the NCAC Award for Athlete of the Week by winning the long jump and Best Field Athlete at the Indoor Championship, motivated the relatively inexperienced Houlihan.
“I won it on the last jump against really good competition. We definitely pushed each other on each jump, and I beat her out on the last jump,” Houlihan said.
Houlihan claims her winning performance benefited not only her, but also lifts the enthusiasm of her teammates. “It’s definitely an ego booster,” she said.
Senior David Bevacqua claimed all five of the men’s team points by placing fourth in the 3000m steeplechase. Bevacqua continues to improve in this event, running the race in under 10 minutes for the first time this season. He must shave another 25 seconds to reach his 2000 NCAC Championship winning time and come closer to his goal of competing in the national meet.

Injury and illness hindered the performances of both the men’s and women’s squad last weekend. The men took a double hit, as jumpers senior Jabari Spruill and sophomore Steffon Thomas did not compete. Spruill stayed in Oberlin to tend to a sprained knee while illness forced Thomas to call-in sick and recuperate in Oberlin.
On the women’s side, junior Apryl Wynn continues to combat an unspecified ailment and hopes to return for at least the long and triple jump competitions at the NCAC next week.

“This isn’t atypical. I’m injury prone. My first two years the same thing happened,” Wynn said. She strongly asserted that she will be ready for the NCAC Championship. 
Oberlin competes tomorrow at Baldwin-Wallace in the last tune-up before the NCAC Championship.