WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The Capital University track & field teams had some solid individual performers in a competitive field at the 2009 OAC Relays hosted by Otterbein College on Saturday. The CU women placed fifth while the men were ninth in fields of 10 teams each.
The Crusader women posted 65 team points to narrowly edge John Carroll (64.50) and Heidelberg (63.50) after sweeping all of the points in the weight throw and posting a first place finish in the 1600 Sprint Medley.
Senior Homa Moheimani (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone HS) won the weight throw with a toss of 13.37 meters. She was followed by sophomore Bethany Kirk (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Northwest HS) and senior Kelsey Todd (Hanoverton, Ohio/Untied Local HS) with distances of 11.72 and 9.79 meters respectively.
Sophomore Emily Goerig (Letonia, Ohio/Letonia HS) followed with a weight throw of 9.19 meters before going on to place second in the shot put at a distance of 12.03 meters, which is her best mark of the season and ranks her second amongst OAC competitors this winter. She is already an OAC automatic qualifier in the shot put.
Fellow sophomore Mallory Molls (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick HS) rounded out a core of solid Crusader performers in the women's field events after finishing fourth in the pole vault of 10-6.00 feet, which improved upon her best height of the season by six inches. Her OAC automatic qualifying height is tied for the third highest mark in the conference this season.
Juniors Jessica Starks (Akron, Ohio/Akron East HS) and Brittany Carter (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South HS) each advanced to the finals of the 55 meter dash to lead the Crusader runners on Saturday afternoon. Starks was fourth at 7.45 while Carter posted a time of 7.76 to edge out a ninth place finish.
In addition, Capital was third in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:31.21 while freshman Karen Steiger (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch HS) was 10th in the 55 meter hurdles with a mark of 9.54.
On the men's side, The Crusaders scored a majority of their points in the field events as freshman Sam Roberts (Grandview Heights, Ohio/Grandview Heights HS) led the way by advancing to the finals in two events. Roberts placed fifth in the high jump with a season-best mark of 6-02.00 feet while also finishing ninth in the triple jump by posting a distance of 11.91 meters.
Capital had two other finalists in the high jump as sophomore Cory Trump (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson HS) was second at 6-04.00' while junior Brad Pickens (New London, Ohio/Western Reserve HS) tied for sixth with a season-best height of 6-00.00', which moved him into OAC provisional qualifying status.
Senior Doug Gibbons (Troy, Ohio/Troy HS) and freshman TJ Bock (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City HS) each reached the finals in the pole vault as Gibbons was fourth at 4.12 meters while Bock was tied for eighth at 3.35 meters. In addition, Capital had the only two competitors in the weight throw as freshman Greg Clayton (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville HS) hurled a throw of 9.90 meters and classmate Erik Barenwald (Kenston, Ohio/Kenston HS) posted a distance of 7.49 meters.
Capital will return to action next Saturday as it takes part in the Greater Columbus Championships hosted by Denison beginning at Noon.