Propelled by four first place finishes, the Oberlin College women’s indoor track and field team captured second place in a meet at Case Western Reserve University last Friday. Fredonia State University narrowly edged the Yeowomen for first in the eight-team invite, with 98 points to Oberlin’s 96.
“We did really, really well,” sophomore Leslie Bosworth said. “Everybody just seemed to be getting points.”
The men’s team, low on manpower due to injuries and Winter Term absentees, placed ninth out of nine teams with eight points. Baldwin-Wallace College claimed the men’s side of the competition with 159.83 points.
“A few people didn’t run because they just got back from Winter Term and they’re not in shape yet,” sophomore Bret Petersen said. “For most of the other guys, it was the first meet of the season.”
Dominance in the relays translated into success for the Yeowomen. Both the 800 m team and the 1600 m team attained first-place honors with times of 1:51.59 and 4:17.00 respectively.
Bosworth, junior Shannon Houlihan, sophomore Teresa Collins and senior Courtney Stackhouse ran the 800 m while first-year Rebecca Turnbull, Bosworth, senior Vicki Alla and Collins comprised the 1600 m relay.
Stackhouse also sprinted to first place in the 55 m dash, clocking in at 7.41 seconds. Senior Emily Enderle captured the final first place of the meet, soaring to 1.52 m to prevail in the high jump.
“We had a strong showing in all of the events we entered,” Collins said.
“Every meet, our times have dropped,” Bosworth added. “It seems like they can’t drop any more, but still, seconds drop.”
Collins had a busy evening, as a member of both first-place relay teams, clocking in the second-best time in the 400 m dash (1:04.44) and taking third in the triple jump at 10.08 meters.
“I think I did well,” she said. “I can only do so much. With four events, I get stressed out and stuff gets jumbled up. I did what I could do.”
Depleted numbers led the men’s team to place in only three events, the 1500 m run, the 1600 m relay, and the 400 m dash.
Sophomore Mike Pennino took seventh in the 1500 m with a time of 4:23.66, while Petersen, junior Ben Franz, sophomore Scott Barker and sophomore Travis Oman were timed at 3:36.97 in the relay, earning sixth place.
Petersen, who also placed sixth in the 400 m dash at 52.53 s, emphasized the fact that the team is still in the early stages of the season.
“Most guys are just starting to get into shape — we should be better by the conference meet,” he said. “This was just about getting over the anxiety of dealing with running the first meet, so we got that trial out of the way.”
Barker agreed.
“We did all right,” he said. “We’re just getting a feel for it, getting back into it.”
The women and a revitalized men’s team are next in action today when they host an invitational at Heisman Fieldhouse.