The Bobcats are headed to the Marshall Invitational for one of its larger meets this season.
Ohio track and field team started the spring with solid performances at the Buckeye and Tom Wright Classics the past few weeks.
After finishing fourth and improving to third in those meets respectively, the Bobcats are prepared for a larger-scale competition this weekend.
Friday, the Bobcats will travel to Huntington, West Virginia, for the Thundering Herd Invitational at Marshall University. The two-day meet will kick off this evening. Roughly 15 other teams will be present, including Wright State, Dayton, Charlotte and Morehead State.
“I hope so,” coach Clay Calkins said with a laugh when asked if this meet could serve as a potential turning point for the team this early in the season.
He recognizes that it can be difficult for the ladies to come back after such a long break over Christmas and that it’s hard for them to train at a high-level on their own during that time. Regardless of that, Calkins thinks they have progressed particularly well.
“Hopefully that will translate into good performances this weekend,” he said.
Calkins emphasized the uniqueness of this meet, explaining that all of the teams the Bobcats will face are Division I teams.
“There’s not a lot of MAC competition there,” he said, “So it’s teams that we don’t normally get to see … it’s going to be interesting to see how we stack up against some other non-conference teams.”
Calkins also mentioned that the “stand-out performances” of throwers Janiece Rose, a senior, and Emma Ryan, a sophomore, at the Tom Wright Classic were indicators to him that they are “excited” and prepared for their events at Marshall.
Rose took third place with a 16.94-meter throw last week while Ryan placed eighth in a separate throwing event with 15.84 meters.
Freshman Jordan Porter, from South Point, Ohio, is another thrower who Calkins says is a “very key person for us” and was off last weekend throwing just 13.26 meters in 14th place.
“I think she’s ready,” Calkins said. “That’s kind of her home turf down there (near Marshall), so that’ll be good for her in the shot (put).”
Calkins notes that this two-day meet is a scored meet and the only two events the Bobcats will compete in tonight will be the women’s 5K and the women’s weight throw, which Calkins believes will allow the team to win some early points before the bulk of the meet takes place Saturday.
“I think we can garner some points there …we should have some points on the board after day one,” he said. “I think if everyone comes to compete … everybody steps out and does their job, I think we’ll do fine.”
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