NCAA Provisional Qualifying Standard For Nicole Bailey Highlights Strong Weekend For Tiger Track Teams
The Wittenberg Tigers split their squads over the Feb. 10 weekend, and the results at the Mike Hout Invitational at Capital University on Friday and the All-Ohio Championships at Otterbein College on Saturday were very strong.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers split their squads over the Feb. 10 weekend, and the results at the Mike Hout Invitational at Capital University on Friday and the All-Ohio Championships at Otterbein College on Saturday were very strong. At Capital, the Tiger men placed third and the women took seventh, while at the All-Ohio, the Tiger men finished 11th and the women came in sixth.
The leader of the pack again was junior Nicole Bailey (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day), who broke a school record and earned the second NCAA Division III provisional qualifying standard of her career at the All-Ohio Invitational. After breaking the meet record and finishing in second place in the 55 meters, Bailey captured top honors in the triple jump and the long jump, shattering a 15-year-old school record with a mark of 17-09.5 in the latter. That leap was one-half inch beyond the NCAA provisional mark.
Bailey wasn't the only Tiger to excel in the challenging All-Ohio field. SophomoreKatie Shoemaker (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe) took third place in the 400 meters, while junior Allison Walker (Columbus, Ohio/Academy) placed sixth in the shot put and fourth in the weight throw.
On the men's side, the top Wittenberg finisher in the All-Ohio was sophomore Erik Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Country Day), who took second place in the triple with a mark of 43-06.50. In addition, Larkin was seventh in the long jump - all after he took a disappointing no height in the high jump. Also scoring for the Tigers were seniorAndy Karcher (Oceola, Ohio/Bucyrus Wynford) with a fourth in the weight throw, sophomore Gabe Savage (Lewisburg, Ohio/Tri-County North) with a seventh in the mile and freshman Curt Weidner (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison) with a seventh in the 55-meter hurdles.
At Capital on Friday, the top men's finishes were supplied by freshman Allen-Michael Bills (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central) with a seventh in the 55 meters and fifth in the 200 meters, sophomore Mark King (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis)with a third in the 400 meters, junior Mike Echols (Springfield, Ohio/North) with a third in the 800 meters, freshman Adam Roberts (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) with a third in the 55 hurdles and fourth in the 300 meters and freshman Matt Guida (LaGrange, Ky./Oldham County) with a third in the shot put.
On the women's side, sophomore Katie McIlvain (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) topped a small Tiger contingent with a third-place finish in the 5000 meters. In addition, sophomore Tara Osborne (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) hit the finish line in fifth place in the 200 meters and eighth place in the 400 meters.