The Ashland University track and field program is anticipating another dominating indoor season, as both the men's and women's teams are nationally-ranked.
The second-ranked men and fourth-ranked women both opened up their season at the Kent State Golden Flash Gala last weekend (Dec. 5), and did nothing less than impress.
In the opening-weekend meet, the Eagles had 16 performances meet provisional qualification, and three athletes clinched automatic bids for the NCAA indoor championships beginning on March 13th in Birmingham, Ala.
"It was a good meet for us, having 19 marks go on the NCAA performance list, and to get three automatic qualifiers just shows we're at where we should be at early on in the season." said AU head coach Jud Logan.
The Eagles' three automatic qualifiers were junior Jamie Sindelar in the shot put, senior Jennifer Foster in the high jump and senior Jared Conklin in the weight throw. These three athletes all had qualifying performances that have sealed their ticket to the NCAA championships in March.
Sindelar threw 51-feet-7¾ in the women's shot put, which was a foot longer than the automatic marker of 50-feet-4 1/3. Foster just needed to clear 5-feet-10½ in the women's high jump, and she managed to match exactly that. Conklin clinched a spot in the men's weight throw with a 70-feet-3 mark. That breezed by the auto marker set at 68-feet-10.
The Eagles will return to competition on Jan. 16th in the Northwest Ohio Invite at the University of Findlay.
ASHLAND AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (3)
Jared Conklin, senior |
Weight throw |
70-feet-3 |
Jennifer Foster, senior |
High jump |
5-feet-10½ |
Jamie Sindelar, junior |
Shot put |
51-feet-7¾ |
ASHLAND PROVISIONAL QUALIFIERS (16)
Zac Ball, senior |
Weight throw |
66-feet-10½ |
Bryn Campbell, sophomore |
Weight throw |
65-feet-4 |
Jordan Crayon, sophomore |
Weight throw |
57-feet-7½ |
Kim Habegger, senior |
Weight throw |
60-feet-10 |
James Clay Harris, senior |
Weight throw |
59-feet-11 |
Clayton Jury, freshman |
Weight throw |
56-feet-6 |
Rebecca Koval, sophomore |
High jump |
5-feet-5 |
Shatora Lewis, senior |
Shot put |
47-feet-10 |
Shatora Lewis, senior |
Weight throw |
63-feet-7 |
Elijha Owens, senior |
60-meter high hurdles |
7.98 |
Zac Papay, senior |
Shot put |
54-feet-10¼ |
Irene Skinner, freshman |
400-meter dash |
55.35 |
Elijah Talk, freshman |
Shot put |
56-feet-2½ |
Megan Tomei, sophomore |
Shot put |
44-feet-4¾ |
Megan Tomei, sophomore |
Weight throw |
56-feet-3¼ |
Jason Zahn, sophomore |
Shot put |
55-feet-2 |
AU
TF/LR