Conference Championship and were confident in redshirt junior Ellen Isaac’s chances to qualify for nationals. Isaac even had sights on earning an All-American honor.
Five weeks ago, the Bobcats had aspirations of winning a Mid-American Conference Championship and were confident in redshirt junior Ellen Isaac’s chances to qualify for nationals. Isaac even had sights on earning an All-American honor.
Things do not always go as planned, however.
Ohio finished eighth in the conference meet and Isaac came up just nine seconds short of qualifying for nationals.
Despite falling short of their goals, however, there were a few nuggets of optimism for the women's side this weekend. Isaac may not have qualifyed for nationals, but she did earn all-region recognition which is given to the top 25 individual finishers (Isaac finished 14th). The women's side finished 15th out of 31 teams.
Women’s assistant coach Tim Sykes said he was proud of the progression shown by his team this season, but acknowledged that the team can do more.
“Although we are happy with our team's progression and growth, we definitely aren't satisfied as we know we still have a lot of work to do over the next year to finish where we know we are truly capable of in the region, which is top 10,” Sykes said. "We'll continue focusing on the little things/the process and I'm sure positive results will follow through indoor track and outdoor track.”
The men’s performance over the weekend have them looking towards the future with plenty of excitement as well.
Ohio's best and worst finishers were only separated by 21 seconds, and the team will return all but one of their top seven runners next year.
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Coach Mitch Bentley said this season was looked at as a rebuilding year at the beginning, but the team was still able to out do their finish last year at MAC’s without Michael McKean.
Bentley’s excitement about the future is largely attributed to his team’s lifestyle away from the track, he said.
Bentley said even with everything pulling them away from what they should be doing, the men prioritize a team-first mentality.
Moving forward, the men's side have most of their major runners returning, including McKean. On the other hand, the women will lose eight seniors, but will return Isaac along with freshman Alyssa Atkinson and sophomore Christina Seas, who showed promise this year.
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