Pioneer women place ninth, while men take tenth at OAC Indoor Championships
Freshman Jessi Larrison earns All-OAC in 500m run

Mar. 4, 2006
ADA, Ohio — The 2006 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships wrapped up Saturday (Mar. 4) afternoon inside the ONU Sports Center, on the campus of Ohio Northern University.

The Pioneers, who had three school-record breaking performances during the first day of competition, broke three more school records on day two. Marietta's women finished the meet with 11 points to place ninth overall, while Marietta men compiled 13.5 points and finished tenth. Baldwin-Wallace won the women's competition with 158 points. Mount Union's men claimed the men's title with 167 points.

Marietta had one All-OAC performer in 2006. Freshman Jessi Larrison (Batavia) ran to a third-place finish in the 500m run. Larrison broke her school record time from the prelims (1:21.39) with a 1:20.94 performance on the OAC's biggest stage.

The women's 4x200m relay also set a new school record en route to a seventh place finish. The relay, which included Mallory Sinoski (Fairpoint/St. Clairsville), Joanna Ferrell (Mineral Wells, W.Va./Parkersburg South), Cayli Cummons (Parkersburg, W.Va.) and Jessica Haas (Winchester/Eastern Brown), crossed the line in 1:51.92, destroying its previous record of 1:55.17.

Freshman Tiffany Kovacevich (Strongsville) was the other Lady Pioneer to set a new school record. Kovacevich threw 11.73m (38-06.00) in the shot put and finished sixth. Her old record was 11.52m (37-09.50).

Other women to compete Saturday included Breanne Kosar (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park), who placed tenth in the high jump (1.52m/4-11.75) and 12th in the triple jump (9.21m/30-02.75); Marissa Barnhart (Avon), who took 13th in the long jump (4.68m/15-04.25) and Melissa Schulte (Pemberville/Eastwood), who placed 14th in the long jump (4.58m/15-00.50).

None of the Marietta men placed higher than fifth in the Championships. Seth Townsend (Belleville, W.Va./Parkersburg South) earned a fifth-place finish in both the triple jump (12.83m/42-01.25) and the high jump (1.91m/6-03.25). Townsend also took ninth in the long jump (6.06m/19-10.75).

Dan DeZordo (Louisville/Marlington) took sixth in the shot put (14.37m/47-01.75), while teammates Derek Carpenter (Belpre) (13.65m/44-09.00) and Brian Pallini (Belpre) (13.61m/44-08.00) took eighth and ninth, respectively.

In addition, Jered Mitchem (Marietta/Warren Local) placed eighth in the 800m run (2:00.54), Chad Showen (Parkersburg, W.Va./South) tied for ninth in the pole vault (4.00m/13-01.50), Harry Potter (Rochester, N.Y./Gate Chili) took tenth in the mile run (4:32.67) and Clark Spears (Brunswick) finished 18th in the 5000m run (16:54.73).

Marietta's 4x200m relay (1:35.95) and 4x400m relay (3:33.97) both placed tenth at the competition.

The Pioneers will now turn their attention to the outdoor season, which begins with the Florida A&M Relays on March 10-11.

Freshman Jessi Larrison was named All-OAC in the 500m run

OAC Championships Web Site