The men and women’s track teams competed in the 21st annual Red Simmons’ Invitational track meet Saturday at the University of Michigan.

For the second meet in a row, Ricco Oglesby was the top finisher in the 60-meter dash in a time of 6.79 seconds. He also held the top time in the 200-meter for college participants finishing in 22.04 seconds.

‘I thought Ricco had a great day,’ said men’s coach Sterling Martin.

Martin went on to say that Oglesby’s time of 6.79 in the 60-meter was only .05 seconds off of qualifying for nationals. Oglesby is showing his competitors early that he is a sprinter to be feared throughout the season.

As for the rest of the BG men, there were no first-place finishers. However, a few men finished second in their events. Sophomore Zerian Peterson ran well enough for second place in the 400 meters with a time of 50.16. Junior Pat Kania finished second in the weight throw with a mark of 52-6 and Eric Peterson leaped into second in the long jump with a distance of 22 -6 1/2.

‘I was very pleased,’ said Martin. ‘I feel pretty good about the intensity the kids are bringing to the competition, so I think we’re on the right track. We’re definitely ahead of where we were at this point last year.’

Women

The women performed well in their first track meet of the year. The Falcons reigned supreme in three events. Stephanie Heldt finished first in the high jump with a height of 5-6. Kerri McClung took home first and set a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 47-5 1/4. Lisa Keegan’s first place in the weight throw let her muscles do the talking with a distance of 54-1 3/4.

Andrea Cook performed well in the pole vault with a height of 10-11 3/4 to finish in second place. Freshman prospect Ellen Alkire, in her first collegiate meet, finished third in the 400-meter in 1:00.18.

Women’s track coach Scott Sehmann was not surprised with Alkire’s impressive performance.

‘She’s a competitor,’ stressed Sehmann. ‘She showed that, obviously, by winning the Indiana State title last year.’