Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Conference!

Our women's team finished second at the conference meet and our men's team finished 4th to punctuate -arguably- the best seasons in the history of Oberlin College Track & Field.

It was a complete team effort - with athletes scoring in almost every event in which they competed.

Several years ago, we only had a handful of All-Conference Athletes.  Now there is a long list of them.  Additionally, Madeline Schultz was named the Conference Sprinter/Hurdler of the year.  She won the Heptathlon, the 400 hurdles, ran  legs on the winning 4x400, and 2nd-place 4x100, finished third in the 100m hurdles, and was fourth in the high jump.  

Our other conference champs included  Nicky Ouellet, who won both the 1500m and the 800m, our women's 4x400m team of Amanda Miller, Laura Vernon, Clara Shaw and Madeline Schultz, and Seth Wimberly - who won the 400m dash.  Seth, Maddy and Nicky have been fantastic examples to their teammates all year.  They've taken it upon themselves to become good athletes, and have pushed their teammates to do the same.  

By no means  were they the only athletes with impressive performances.  Ryan King finished second in the men's 1500m, breaking our (very old) school record in the process.  Over the past four years, Ryan has worked himself into one of the best milers in our conference.  He has also done a fantastic job of setting the tone for our men's distance runners.  Clara Shaw also finished second in the women's 1500m - marking an incredible season for her, as well.  Clara is a phenomenal runner, and it has been a joy to watch her put it all together this year.  

Solomon Turner and Ryan Magiera also stepped up big for us at conference.  With a second-place run in the 400, to go along with his successful indoor campaign, Solomon's sophomore season is an extremely successful one.  He hasn't even scratched the surface yet.  In only his second season of track, Ryan finished third in the high jump, improving by leaps and bounds (pun intended) on his finish at last year's conference meet.  

Lastly, we can't mention our Conference Meet without mentioning Everett Schlawin's 10k/5k double.  A day after finishing a very impressive 2nd in the 10k (31.53.67 - a new school record!), Everett came back to finish 5th in the 5k in 15:21.97.  Both races demonstrated the commitment to improve and competitive drive that Everett has had since he's been here.  We're couldn't be happier that his senior season ended so well, but we're going to miss him a lot next year.  

For most of our team, the season is over.  We'll take several people to compete in some post-season meets, with a nod towards trying to qualify for nationals.  With two more weeks until "The Big Show", a lot can  happen.  Check back later to find out what.