Thornberry busts record

First ever performance in 1000 ends in record-breaking time

Increased numbers and growing experience both proved to be beneficial for the men and women's indoor track teams during their meet on Feb. 7. Allegheny College, Baldwin-Wallace College, Denison University, Heidelburg College and Otterbein College were all in competition at the Heisman Field House.

Oberlin's brightest spot of the track meet came when junior Trista Thornberry set a school record in the 1000 meter with a time of 3:11:64. The 1000 meter was a new race to her.

"It was pretty weird," said Thornberry. "I'd never run that race before."

Thornberry was happy with the return to running competitively as well, as she had not run an indoor race in two years. "It's a good way to come back to serious training," she said.

Oberlin's women finished fourth of the five teams competing, and the men's team finished fifth out of six. There is a marked improvement over the initial meets, which happened while the team was still building up its ranks.

Sophomore Amy Ely, who was competing in up to six different events before the influx of people, seemed optimistic about the numbers and the feeling within the team. "We're starting to come together as a team," said Ely. "We had enough to run two relays, for the women anyway."

Ely continued her strong finishes in various events with a third place in the long jump, and also ran for a fourth place finish in the 55 meter dash. First-year Rebecca Grossman posted a strong time in the 800 meter, finishing third.

Sophomore Steve Jackson, who finished fifth in the 55 meter dash, said "there were some quality performances," of the meet."The men are really starting to step up," Jackson said.

The top men's runners are creeping closer and closer to the front of the packs in their races. Senior Ben Garthwait and sophomore Gilbert Saenz finished third and fourth in the 800 meter, respectively.

Sophomore Dan Feldman came in fourth in the 400 meter, and sophomore David Ellis took fourth in the 300 meter, finishing one-hundredth of a second behind the third place runner. It was also his first race back this season. "It placed him third in the conference after only one meet," said Jackson.

The teams will have more opportunities to improve as they travel to Baldwin-Wallace College for a meet this evening.