A tune-up, that’s all it was.
This past weekend, the Wabash track and field team hosted the Wabash Indoor Open. The field of competitors was quite small with only four schools – Wabash, Indiana Wesleyan, Bellarmine, and Indianapolis – entering individuals. No team scores were kept but several Wabash men had excellent performances.
Freshman Emmanuel Aouad started the day off winning the long jump. His effort of 22’4.5” was an improvement on his previous best jump of the season. Currently, Aouad’s jump is the best performance in the NCAC on the season.
In the pole vault, junior Nelson Barre improved in the pole vault. He vaulted 13’6”, which improved his best mark by 2 inches. Junior Justin Sparks competed for the first time in the weight throw. His mark of 40’11.5” is the fifth-best throw in the conference this season.
The most success for the Little Giants came in the high jump where sophomores Andrew Rode and Wade Heiny cleared 5’10.75”. With those two athletes clearing a height greater than the NCAC 8th-place mean, Wabash can now enter five athletes – Rode, Heiny, freshmen Chris Schweigel and Bill Kneapler, and junior Mike Russell – in the high jump at the conference championships.
The shot put was also a very positive event for Wabash. Senior Ben Tritle put the shot 46’11”, which is the second-best toss in the conference this season. Freshman David Haggard also had his best throw of the season with his effort of 44’2.75”.
In the 55-meter dash, sophomore Bobby Kimp won in a time of 6.71, just two-hundredths of a second slower than his best time on the season. In the 200-meter dash, Mike Russell won in a time of 23.01 seconds, just one-hundredth of a second slower than his best time on the season, which he ran the previous week.
In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Wade Heiny was the fastest finisher for the Little Giants with a time of 53.31 seconds. However, juniors Richard Roomes and Tim Rickard were close on his heels, finishing in 53.48 and 53.55 seconds, respectively.
In the mile run, Wabash composed a majority of the field, and they claimed the top three places. Junior Geoff Lambert won in a time of 4:29.68. He was followed by sophomore Hugh Jackson and senior Dennis Frazee.
The Wabash track and field team has this weekend off before traveling to Denison to compete in the North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 2 and 3, 2007. However, there will still be exciting track and field action in Knowling Fieldhouse this Saturday because Bellarmine will be hosting the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships.