The first road trip of the season proved to be a bumpy one for the BG track team as they stumbled to a fourth place finish in the Central Michigan University Quadrangular on Friday.
The Falcons’ final tally of 101.5 points left them at the bottom of the pile, staring up at fellow competitors Northern Illinois (109.5 points), Toledo (130) and the host Chippewas (170).
“I was not pleased with the way we performed at all,” said coach Cami Wells. “We had some good performances, but in some cases, we were just not prepared mentally or physically. We did not do as good a job of going out and being aggressive as we have in the last couple of meets. “
The Falcons’ subpar showing was perhaps due in part to the fact that the Falcons were vexed by an assortment of illnesses, forcing Wells to leave seven athletes behind.
“It’s just that time of year, people are getting sick all the time,” Wells said. “Unfortunately we were hit pretty hard this week.”
Amid the disappointment, however, there were a few bright spots for the Falcons.
Whitney Hartman continued to defeat all comers in the weight throw, recording her fourth straight victory in the event with a toss of 17.80 meters. The fifth-year senior also placed second in the weight throw, which was won by teammate TaKarra Dunning.
After battling a nagging hamstring problem earlier in the year, Dunning has rallied for two successive wins in the shot-put.
Also recording her second consecutive victory was pole vaulter Sabrina Forstein, who followed up her previous week’s triumph with a repeat performance, edging out Shari Harmon of Toledo by .15 meters.
Overall though, it was forgettable weekend for the Falcons, who will now try to regroup and prepare for the All-Ohio Championships which will be held February 13-14 at the University of Findley.
“We just have to dust ourselves off and to our best to prepare for the All-Ohio,” Wells said. “Everybody has to be ready to do their part in order for us to improve and get better as a team.”
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Contact sports reporter Chris Rambo at [email protected].
