First-Place Finishes Highlight Strong Team Finishes At NCAC Outdoor Championships
The Wittenberg men's and women's track and field teams put together solid team finishes at the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Outdoor Championships, highlighted by a trio of first-place finishers.
GRANVILLE, Ohio — The Wittenberg men's and women's track and field teams put together solid team finishes at the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Outdoor Championships, highlighted by a trio of first-place finishers.
The Tiger men placed sixth in the nine-team field, while the Tiger women finished fourth of eight teams.
The highlight of the meet was provided by freshman Whitney Goller (Findlay, Ohio/Liberty Benton), who rounded out a tremendous inaugural collegiate campaign with Sprinter/Hurdler of the Year honors. She finished first in the 100-meter hurdles, seventh in the 100-meter dash and ran a leg of the first-place 4x100-meter relay. All this in addition to a sixth-place finish in the previous week's heptathlon and a second-place finish in the long jump.
Goller was joined on the 4x100 relay by freshmanShawnquaya Johnson (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont), sophomore Jordan Stafford (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon) and sophomore Kari Domiano (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome). They crossed the finish line in 49.49.
Other Tiger women who earned All-NCAC honors were Stafford with a third place in the 400 meters, sophomore Samantha Iden (Pickerington, Ohio/North) with a third place in the 800 meters, sophomoreDarcy Dubuc (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) with a third place in the 1500, junior Karen Bellanca (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) with a third place in the javelin, senior Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) with a third place in the high jump and freshman Kaileigh Bible (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) with a third place in the pole vault.
Rounding things out for the women were the members of the 4x400-meter relay, sophomore Catherine Kuerbitz (Cleveland, Ohio/Regina), Domiano, Johnson and Stafford, who placed second to earn All-NCAC recognition.
On the men's side, a pair of first-place finishers provided the high points as freshman David Kolakowski (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) claimed the top spot in the pole vault and freshman Aaron Hartzell (Springfield, Ohio/Northeastern) took first place in the high jump. For Hartzell, it added up to a clean sweep of the 2010 NCAC high jump titles after he also won the indoor event in March.
Other Tiger men who earned All-NCAC honors were junior Thomas McElwee (Herriman, Utah/Blue Valley) with a third place finish in the javelin and senior Tim Uher (Granville, Ohio/Pickerington Central) with a title in the previous week's decathlon. Uher added a fourth place finish in the long jump, eighth place in the javelin and seventh place in the 110-meter hurdles.