The Bobcats travel to Indiana this weekend for a one-day meet, as they focus on their sprinters, jumpers and throwers.
Ohio will travel to Muncie, Indiana, Friday for the Cardinal Invitational hosted by Ball State.
Unlike the majority of their meets this season, the Bobcats will only compete for one day, giving them an opportunity to hone in on shorter distance events.
“It’s not as intensive a meet for us,” head coach Clay Calkins said.
Calkins said the meet would serve as a ‘tune up’ for the Bobcats’ distance runners — who won’t travel with the team to train and prepare for the upcoming Jesse Owens Classic held on May 1.
“You can train heavily in all of those shorter events more so than you can in the distance, so you’ve got to be careful not to over train the athletes in the distance events,” Calkins said.
Calkins said he was pleased with his team’s progress so far this spring and said the throwers have been particularly consistent.
At the Cherry Blossom Invitational two weekends ago, senior Janiece Rose garnered a 53.06 meter throw in the hammer throw event — good enough to place her fifth overall out of 30 women throwers.
Junior Ashlee Bilhimer also did well, placing first in the women’s javelin throw event and recording a 43.36 meter throw during the meet.
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The invitational was one of two track and field events held in Athens this year.
“I think the throwers have been doing a great job all season,” Calkins said. “They just need to keep expanding their marks, and that’s the goal each week, to try to get better each week. And they’ve been doing a great job there.”
Also during the Cherry Blossom Invitational, junior sprinter Kristin Winkel recorded a personal-best time of 4:40.04 in the 100-meter hurdles. She came just a hair shy of that record with a 4:40.05 time in the same event at the All-Ohio Championships last week and she will look to maintain her confidence at Ball State.
“To have your two best times in your life two weeks in a row, that’s pretty good,” Calkins said.
Finally, Calkins and the team will look for their jumpers to have an impact at Ball State.
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At the All-Ohio Championship, sophomore Taylor Smith placed sixth out of 16 in the women high jump event, notching a 1.63 meter jump.
The Bobcats expect to see several other teams within the Mid-American Conference at Ball State this weekend, which will help give them an idea of where they stand within the conference.
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