Ohio rested some of its athletes this weekend, but the lack of athletes didn’t significantly influence the team’s results.
With the Jesse Owens Classic coming next weekend, coach Clay Calkins wanted to rest his main sprinters and distance runners.
But despite some athletes sitting out, the Bobcats had a decent showing at UNC Charlotte’s Charlotte Invitational. The Bobcats have been consistent, and their decent showing began as it usually does this weekend, with the field events performing well.
Jordan Porter, the Bobcats’ best thrower in the shot put, placed first, throwing for 15.28 meters. Including this weekend’s meet, Porter has placed first in the shot put for the past three meets.
Aside from Porter doing well in the shot put, Gaza Odunaiya and Emma Ryan had a solid performance in the discus. Odunaiya placed fourth in the event with a throw of 43.54 meters, and Ryan placed sixth with a throw of 42.28 meters.
The field events fell off a bit, with Odunaiya not doing as well in her signature event, the hammer throw. Also, Ryan usually places in the top three of the discus.
Though the field events dropped a bit in production, the track events didn’t see a significant difference except from runners and sprinters sitting out.
The Bobcats still performed well in the distance events, especially the 5000-meter run. The Bobcats had three athletes place in the top 10 of this event. Emily Cass placed third, posting a time of 17:53.44. Abby Miller placed fifth with a time of 18:24.32, and Tiffany Hill placed seventh with a time of 18:38.86.
Along with the 5000-meter run, the Bobcats also saw Kristin Winkel continue her success. Winkel has recently performed well in the short sprints, and she did the same at Charlotte.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Winkel placed second overall, posting a time of 14.18 seconds. In her heat, Winkel placed also placed second In the 200-meter dash, Winkel placed ninth overall with a time of 25.34 seconds; Winkel placed first in her heat.
With the Bobcats having some rest, they should be prepared for the Jesse Owens Classic next weekend in Columbus, a bigger meet than the Charlotte Invitational. The Jesse Owens Classic is a meet the Bobcats want to succeed in, one they usually find success in too.
