Track & field: Olivet participates in Defiance Invitational
The Olivet College women’s and men’s indoor track & field teams finished in ninth- and 10th-place today at the 2015 Defiance College Invitational, held at the George M. Smart Center in Defiance, Ohio. Ten teams and approximately 500 student-athletes participated in the event.
Schultz breaks indoor school-record in the mile run
DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Olivet College women's and men's indoor track & field teams finished in ninth- and 10th-place today at the 2015 Defiance College Invitational, held at the George M. Smart Center in Defiance, Ohio. Ten teams and approximately 500 student-athletes participated in the event.
The Comet women scored 26 total points. Ohio Northern University won the team championship with 156 points. Sophomore Allyson Schultz had Olivet's best finish on the track, placing fifth out of 35 runners in the mile run with a school-record time of 5:44.28.
Also scoring points on the track was the distance medley quartet of Schultz, junior Lauren Easton, sophomore Alissa Iloncai and junior Danielle Marsh. They were fifth with a time of 14:51.28.
In the field events, freshman Michaela Kaliniak was third in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 8 feet, 10-1/4 inches. Easton and junior Danielle Hoffman shared fifth-place with 8 feet, 4-1/4 inch clearances. Senior Cassie Ciaravino tied for the second-best mark (5 feet, 1/2 inch) in the high jump, but a judge's decision placed her fourth.
The men's team scored 31 points. Ohio Northern also took first-place in the men's race with 142.5 points. Senior Jalen Weaver posted the third-fastest time in the 400-meter dash at 51.66 seconds. Sophomore Connor Bauserman was not far behind in fifth-place at 51.77 seconds. Senior Andrew Benkovsky placed fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:59.76.
Olivet's 4x400-meter relay team of Bauserman, Weaver, Benkovsky and junior Tyler Brittenfinished in second-place with a time of 3:28.65, which just over a half-second slower than the winning quartet from Ohio Northern. The distance medley team of senior Greg Lutzke, sophomore Blake Wilson and freshmen Nicholas Roberge-Ferris and Bruce Baker crossed the line second in a time of 11:15.02.
The Comet's top finish in the field events was turned in by junior Travon Tatum. He leaped to an eight-place mark of 20 feet, 2-1/2 inches.
Olivet will make the trip down I-69 next Friday, Jan. 30, for the Don and Riley Zimmer Indoor Classic, hosted by Trine (Ind.) University Invitational. Field events will start at 5 p.m., followed by running events at 5:15 p.m.