Bowling Green’s men’s and women’s track and field teams placed third in a field of eight teams at last weekend’s Cincinnati Bearcat Classic. The men’s team scored 101.50 points and was led by the first-place finishes of Zerian Peterson, Drew Downey and the 4 by 400 meter relay team. The women’s team scored 137 points and was led by the first-place finishes of Alicia Taylor, Joy Echler, Lori Williams, Brooke Allen and the 4 by 400-meter relay team.
Peterson won the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.70 seconds.
“Zerian Peterson won the quarter, which is what I kind of expect of Zerian,” said men’s coach Sterling Martin. “We expect Zerian to win the quarter every time he hops on the track. He ran a really strong race, and he’s nursing some tendinitis around his knee right now.”
Downey won the pole vault with a vault of 16 feet 6 inches. The 4 by 100-meter relay squad placed second behind the Cincinnati squad with a time of 42.08. Dean Coticchia finished second in the high jump with a leap of 6-6. BG’s 4 by 400 squad edged Miami and Cincinnati with a time of 3:13.53.
“The mile relay ran as well as they have run in the last two years. The last time we ran that well, we won the conference,” Martin said.
Senior Ricco Ogelsby placed third in the 100-meter dash in 10.75 while Emmanuel Hendrix and Ray Hall finished seventh and eighth.
Hendrix also placed eighth in the 200-meter dash. Juniors Josh Cook and Ed Stonestreet placed third and fourth in the 800-meter run with times of 1:54.34 and 1:55.22. Pat Kania’s throw of 162-7 in the hammer throw earned him third place.
Other scorers for the Falcons included Andre George with a fourth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, Eric Peterson and Bryan Gardner with fourth and fifth place finishes in the long jump and Keith Battle with a fifth place finish in the 200-meter dash and an eighth place finish in the 400-meter dash. The distance squad also scored in numerous events.
Troy Stiles was sixth in the steeplechase, Tom Kutter placed seventh in the 5000-meter run, and Justin Perez was seventh in the 1500-meter run.
David Springer placed eighth in the high jump while Kerry Koontz placed seventh in the pole vault.
After the announcement was made to cut the program next year, Martin and his staff made some adjustments with this season’s squad.
“All things considered, we are competing very well right now,” Martin said. “Across the board, the entire team is very competitive right now.”
Taylor was a double winner for the women’s squad with first place finishes in the 100- and 400-meter hurdle events with times of 14.44 and 1:03.67.
“Alicia Taylor did a fine job and improved her time in the 100-meter hurdles,” said women?s coach Scott Sehmann. “She won the 400-meter hurdles in her first time running them.”
Senior Lori Williams also won two events. Williams won the discus with a throw of 153-6, won the hammer throw with a 173-6 throw, and placed fifth in the shot put with a throw of 40-7 1/2. Other winners for the BG women included Echler’s victory in the steeplechase with a time of 11:14.71. Junior Brooke Allen placed first in the javelin with a throw of 120-1.
Senior Christine Thompson placed third in both the 800-meter and 1500- meter events with times of 2:19.07 and 4:41.73. Bridget Kozy placed third in the long jump with a distance of 17-3 1/4. Kozy also placed fourth in the high jump with a jump of 5-4. BG’s 4 by 100 relay team placed third in the field with a time of 48.54.
Other athletes who scored points for the Falcons included thrower Mary Willems with a third-place finish in the hammer throw, Janean Johnson with a fifth-place finish in the hammer throw, and Chassity Gulley with a fourth-place finish in the shot put. In the sprints, Tamika Dixon placed fourth in the 400-meter dash and sixth in the 200-meter dash, and Valerie Holland placed seventh in the 100-meter dash. Jensine Pernell placed sixth in the 400 hurdles, and Nicole Carter placed fifth in the long jump.
Sehmann talked about the distractions for both squads.
“As far as last week, with practice we didn’t see the outdoor facility at all because of the weather,” Sehmann said, “and that kind of set us back a little bit as far as the relays were concerned and some of the field events as well as the track events. The news of the track program elimination didn’t necessarily help focus, either. Overall, the kids did a good job competing with all the other factors.”
The men’s team will send split squads to Georgia Tech and Ohio University for meets this weekend while the women will compete at Ohio University’s McDonald Invitational.
