Women's track finishes ahead of defending champs

All-Ohio meet brings all Div III schools together

As the season draws to a close, the Oberlin track team seems to have settled into some comfortable patterns: the women continue to have successes that place them in the running for the top spots in the conference, and the men struggle to succeed in spite of the lack of depth they need to make them truly competitive. Last weekend's All-Ohio meet was no different.

All seventeen of Ohio's Division III schools competed last weekend. The women's team finished eleventh overall, ahead of many NCAC teams, and in front of last year's conference champion, Denison. The men's team finished sixteenth.

"There are a lot of really good athletes in Ohio," said Head Coach Thomas Mulligan. "They [the men's team] just aren't as deep [as the women] so it's hard to see how well they are performing."

The women's team continued to break school records. Senior Trista Thornberry was the only athlete to place first. Thornberry won the 1500 meter open, breaking the 1979 Oberlin school record. Thornberry is one of the top runners in the NCAC and in Ohio. Ordinarily she would have run the 800 and one of the relays, but sickness prevented her from competing in them last weekend.

Sophomore Kate O'Brien set a school record in the pole vault leaping seven feet. O'Brien jumped seven feet, an entire foot more than her previous best jump. Sophomore Medora Lytle once again broke her own record in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Both Lytle and O'Brien placed seventh in their events.

The 400 meter relay team came in fifth with their best time of the season. Their time is also the best in the NCAC at this point in the season, which puts them in position to perform well at the conference championship.

"If we perform to our capabilities in a championship environment we will do very well. We should be right in the thick of it," said Mulligan of the upcoming conference championship.

The men's team was unable to place at all. Sophomore Colin Fishwick had the best time of his career in the 1000 meter open, as did first-year John Rogers in the 5000 meter. Sophomore Sean Wesolowski's time in the 200 meter was also "very competitive," according to Mulligan.

Mulligan said that it is important for the team to do well in the upcoming meet. "We're still trying to put some things together," he said.

"It's important that we look good on Friday," Mulligan said.

This weekend, the team travels to John Carroll for the last conference meet of the season. At a separate meet, junior Amie Ely will kick off the championship meet this weekend by running the heptathlon. The championships in the heptathalon and the decathlon will be run this weekend. The rest of the championship events will be held the first weekend in May.