The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Sports February 18, 2005

Indoor track and field sends athletes to All-Ohio

The Oberlin College track and field team competed in two meets this weekend. The first meet was last Friday at home. There were no team rankings at the meet; however, Head Coach Jason Hudson was pleased with the results.

“The team exhibited a really solid effort. We still have some work to do, but the team is truly on the right track to perform, which I think you could see at the Friday meet. I felt really good about the strength we showed.”

Senior Shannon Morris was one of the Yeowomen’s top performers, winning two events: the 1500-meter (5:18.56) and the 800-meter (2:23.46). Also on the women’s front, sophomore Sarah Newman placed first in the 3000-meter (12:14.65). Far exceeding expectations, junior Vernicia Elie attempted the triple jump for the first time in her career and won with a leap of 30’11.75”.

Senior captain Katherine Macdonald was very optimistic reflecting on the Yeowomen’s performance. “I was really impressed. We have a lot of young energy on the team,” she said. “I’m really excited about these promising new players.”

Macdonald hopes that more fans will come out to support the team at home meets. “I would have liked to see some more fans at the meet, though. It can really transform a race when you’re coming around the last curve. When you see people there cheering you on, that’s when you know you have to win.”

On the men’s side, sophomore Matt Ferris-Smith was the only Yeoman to win an event, taking first in the 1500-meter in 4:15.50.

When asked what his plans were for improvement, Hudson stated, “In order to improve, we have to work on being more of a team. Each meet, that’s my goal: to work together better. Once we have teamwork, then we’ll get the times and the success and the points.”

On Saturday, Oberlin sent qualified individuals to the All-Ohio Championships at Ohio Northern. Oberlin sent four competitors, three of whom attained new personal bests. For the Yeowomen sophomore Ariane Berwell finished the 5000-meter with a time of 18:55.16, a personal best for her. Also for the Yeowomen, Collins was fifth in the 400-meter in 61.30.

On the Yeomen’s side sophomore Edo Bedzra finished fifth in the 55-meter in 6.62. He ran the third fastest time in the preliminaries at 6.60. This was also the fastest time in the conference. Junior Shean Perry placed fifth in the pole vault at 13’11.75”. Oberlin’s eight points gave the Yeomen 14th place among 19 teams.

Hudson, reflecting on the invitational, said, “Saturday was a really small group because we had to qualify. For being so small, we truly had an exceptional performance. To have so many personal bests continues to impress me. My personal goal for the future, though, is to have more invites. I think we can accomplish this next year if we continue to improve throughout the season.”