The Bobcats continue to run hard and have several girls placing in the top five in their events. They are getting ready for the Thundering Herd Invitational coming up this weekend.
The Ohio Track & Field team took third place this weekend in the Tom Wright Classic at Bowling Green’s Perry Field House. The team finished with 88 points and 11 Bobcats placed in the top five of their respective events.
Among the other teams present were Bowling Green, Miami, Toledo and Dayton.
Junior Tessa Weigand took the lead by winning the 800-meter dash and placing third in the mile with times of 2:22.77 and 5:15.23, respectively. Freshman Kaitlyn Logan also placed in the 800-meter dash in third at 2:26.81 while junior Peyton Adkins placed fourth in the mile with 5:24.26.
“It was a nice feeling,” Logan said about being the only Ohio freshman who placed in the event.
Junior Hayley Stegemiller grabbed fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.10.
To follow up, a slew of sophomores took over in their events as well. Tara Tollett placed second in the 3000-meter dash (10:23.30), Anna Michael and Tajah Smith finished in fourth and fifth respectively in the 300-meter dash (44.55, 44.64) and Mackenzie Rankin finished in fifth in the 60-meter hurdles (9.56).
On the field side, senior Janiece Rose took third in the weight throw at 16.94 meters, sophomore Taylor Smith placed third as well in the high jump at 1.65 meters and fellow sophomore Olivia Mayfield earned second in long jump at 5.56 meters.
The team seems to have come out of winter break strong with early success so far this season and hopes to continue doing so as it goes on.
Being a part of a team is hard work and it consists of many components, leadership being one of them.
When asked about her role as a leader on the team, Adkins, a junior distance runner said: “It’s really important to me. It’s important to keep the younger girls working hard because they will be coming up after us. (I want to help) build a strong program.”
On the opposite end, Logan, a freshman from Granville, Ohio, said: “Before I came here I was kind of nervous about going from the top (as a high school senior) to the bottom again (as a college freshman). But the older girls are all really nice. I was kind of surprised at how nice they were.”
As far as personal tactics go, Logan said that she must mentally prepare for each race and remind herself of why she works so hard.
“(Sometimes) I just have to remember what I’m here for: I love to run,” Logan said.
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