Marietta sets five school records in final tune-up for OAC Championship
Pioneer women take second and men place third at Marietta Open #4

March 1, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — On Saturday (March 1) afternoon, the Marietta College track & field team had its final opportunity to tune-up for next week’s Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Championship, as the Pioneers hosted the Marietta Open #4, which was the sixth and final indoor competition at the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center in 2007-08. Marietta had five more records fall during the meet and placed 2-of-10 with 137 points on the women’s side and 3-of-7 with 116 points on the men’s side of the competition. Seton Hill’s women collected 188 points to win the women’s title, while Concord (W.Va.) had its men take the crown with 150 points.

The Marietta women set four school records and had seven individual champions. Senior Sheena Spencer (Marietta/Parkersburg) set a school record en route to winning the 300m Dash. Spencer finished in 43.04 seconds, almost three seconds than Christi Tims’ previous record of 45.97 seconds, which was set in 2007.

Sophomore Randi Robertson (Avon Lake) added her name to a third indoor individual school record when she won the 1,000m Run after posting a time of 3:11.53. She also holds the school record in the indoor Mile Run and 3,000m Run. Teammate Shannon McDonald (Lorain/Amherst Steele) held the previous record, which was 3:23.07 and set in 2007. Robertson also won the Mile Run, finishing in 5:29.50.

Freshman Tara Leach (West Lafayette) improved up her own record in winning the Long Jump. Leach, who jumped a school record 4.97m (16-04.00) in her first meet of the season, finished with a mark of 5.19m (17-00.50) on Saturday.

Last week, junior Tiffany Kovacevich (Strongsville) set a school record in the Weight Throw. This week, she topped her own Shot Put record with a throw of 11.82m (38-09.50), which was good enough for first place at the competition.

There were nine other top three performances on the women’s side. Sophomore Logan Wern (North Canton/Hoover) took third in the Mile Run (5:43.91). Sophomore Caitlin Piotrowski (Dublin/Jerome) ran a personal record and placed third in the 400m Run (1:09.83). Junior Jessi Larrison (Batavia) won the 800m Run (2:25.79), while sophomore Brenda Puckett (Eaton/Preble Shawnee) took third in the 800m Run (2:30.84). Both were season-best performances. Freshman Olivia Holiday (Malta/Morgan) placed third in the Pole Vault (2.97m/9-09.00). In addition, senior Breanne Kosar (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park) cleared a season best in winning the High Jump (1.57m/5-01.75), while freshman Ericka Shafer (East Canton) took second (1.47m/4-09.75). Puckett, Larrison, sophomore Sarita Dhiraprasiddhi (Hilliard/Darby) and Spencer also combined to take second in the 4x400m Relay, finishing in 4:18.20.

Junior Brian Pallini (Medina) continued his pace of setting a school record each time out Saturday when he won the Weight Throw with a mark of 15.48m (50-10.00). Pallini’s previous best, which was also a school record, was 15.43m (50-07.50). Pallini also won the Shot Put with a throw of 13.85m (45-05.25).

Two other Pioneer men won an event while seven others placed in the top three. Junior Jered Mitchem (Marietta/Warren Local) won the 800m Run, crossing the line in 2:00.15 and freshman Matt Hickman (St. Marys, W.Va.) took first in the 55m Dash after running a personal record 6.63 second race. Hickman also placed second in the 300m Dash, finishing in 38.88 seconds.

Senior John Hull (Scot Depot, W.Va./Winfield) finished third in the 5,000m Run (17:09.47). Freshman Anthony Williams (Columbus/Bishop Hartley) took second and ran a season’s best in the 400m Dash (53.03 seconds). Sophomores Cody Thomas (North Olmsted) and Gary Hochstein (Mt. Hope, W.Va.) finished second (2:03.78) and third (2:08.29), respectively in the 800m Run; both ran season’s bests. Freshman Seth Beckner (Red House, W.Va./Buffalo) finished runners-up in the Pole Vault (4.27m/14-00.00). In addition, freshman Randall Freeman (East Cleveland/Shaw), Williams, Thomas and Mitchem combined to run a season’s best time in the 4x400m Relay. The group took second and was less than one second shy of the school record.

Marietta now turns its attention to the OAC Championship, which will be hosted by Otterbein College on Friday (March 7) and Saturday (March 8) in Westerville. A list of qualifiers should be released early next week. Action begins Friday at 1:30 p.m.

Senior Sheena Spencer set the school record in the 300m Run on Saturday

Results