Outdoor Track Continues

Although spring break provided many students the chance to relax, be lazy and ignore responsibility, many members of the Oberlin men's and women's outdoor track teams broke such traditional vacation habits when they traveled to Tennessee for the Big Cat Classic at Rhodes College on April 1.

This season's outdoor track team is filled with talented runners, jumpers and throwers, led by senior captains Emily Lane, Medora Lytle and Christiana Nwofor for the women and captains sophomore Dan Blackburn and juniors Zach Rudisin and Daniel Shwartz for the men. Head coach Tom Mulligan works with distance coach Roger Laushman, jump coach Deryl Nalle, assistant sprints coach Ann Gilbert, throw coach Ron Greer and middle distance coach Gavin O'Neal.

I'm riding down your moonlight mile: The Yeorunners are gearing up for conference championships on May 5th and 6th. (photo by Christine Braunohler)

"I think Coach Mulligan is the best coach of all time. I am sure that he will guide us to a strong finish," said sophomore Apryl Wynn (heptathlon).

"Our coaches go above and beyond to help us improve as track and field athletes, often staying after practice to work with individuals on technique," said senior thrower Katy Durham-Hammer. "They are unfailingly positive and knowledgeable, and their high standards for us inspire me to raise my standards for myself."

After last week's meet, it would seem that the teams are well on their way to gearing up for their upcoming meets, setting their sights on a big finish at the NCAC Championships May 5 and 6 at Ohio Wesleyan University. Continuing to build strength in practice and competing in meets every week will help the team to be "as polished as they can be for conference," said Laushman.

Although not all of the members of Oberlin's track team were present at last week's Cat Classic, it definitely served as a springboard for the entire group. Performances at the meet have inspired the team to continue working hard in order to achieve their goals.

"I am excited about our upcoming season. The team has some great athletes that should place at the important meets," said junior distance runner and co-captain Schwartz.

Excitement was definitely in the air when first-year distance runner Laura Feeney took first in the women's 5000m run with a time of 19:18. The second-place finisher placed at 19:34.

Sophomore thrower Gloria Adams took 15th in women's shot put with a distance of 25' 6". Adams also took 13th in women's discus with 83' 6" and 13th in women's javelin, sending it 55' 2". In women's 100m dash, Stackhouse took 12th with a time of 12.63 and sophomore sprinter/hurdler Nzinga Broussard dashed to 15th in 12.87.

Stackhouse and Broussard flew through the women's 200m dash with times of 26.10 and 26.37, scoring 12th and 13th places, respectively. Finally, first-year sprinter/hurdler Vicki Alla took 15th in the women's 400m intermediate hurdles with a time of 1:19.46.

"We have a lot of talented athletes in the sprints, distance and field events. I think together we can do well for Oberlin College," said Broussard.

In men's shot put, sophomore captain thrower Balckburn took 15th place with 40' 3", while first-year thrower David Yarmolinsky scored 21st at 34' 2". Blackburn took 13th in men's discus twith 100' 5" while Yarmolinsky fouled. In men's javelin, Blackburn took 10th and Yarmolinsky 12th with distances of 114' 9.5" and 96' 2", respectively. First-year sprinters Tim Salazar and Steffon Thomas took 24th and 26th, respectively, in the men's 100m dash with times of 11.60 and 12.20. Salazar captured 29th place in the men's 200m dash with a time of 24.38. Thomas took 33rd with a time of 25.73. In the men's 800m run, junior middle distance runner Andre Street took 13th with a time of 1:59.95.

"Our first meet went well," said Rudisin. "It was just a skeleton crew competing, but we got a 4x100m relay team together, which is very good for us this early in the season." The relay team consisted of Thomas, Street, Salazar, and Rudisin. They took a strong 7th place with a time of 45.06.

"There are so many members of the team that I see working hard. Regardless of where you stand in the conference, that is what counts. It's all about the effort," said Thomas.

The next meet is slated for Saturday at Wooster. Health remains a main concern for the team. "We need to be healthy enough to be in a position to compete at the Championships," said Coach Mulligan. However, his concerns are dwarfed by his pride for the two teams. "I feel like we have two teams who are working extremely hard. They come to practice every day and support each other."