Beavers off to Willamette meet
March 25, 2016 | Women's Track & Field
Many of the distance runners will either take the weekend off to train in anticipation of the April 1-2 Stanford Invitational, one of the bigger meets of the outdoor season.
“The emphasis [Saturday] is more for our sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers,” coach Kelly Sullivan said. “The distance group will go to the Bay Area next weekend,” for the Stanford Invitational and San Francisco State Distance Carnival.
“The group that competes [Saturday] is the event areas that will go to Arizona State” for the April 7-9 Sun Angel meet.
Several sprinters and jumpers will compete in different events on Saturday.
· Senior triple jumper/long jumper Michele Turney (pictured above) is entered in the 100 meters.
· Sophomore sprinter Kerissa D'Arpino will race the 400 hurdles; she was a standout hurdler at North Valley High School before enrolling at OSU.
· Junior Devin Collins, who set the school record in the 100 hurdles (13.81) at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open on March 19, will run the 200 on Saturday.
“We have some others we are holding out,” primarily in the middle distance and distance events, Sullivan added. “But we have a good group going. Coming off of spring break our enthusiasm is pretty high and if the weather cooperates” he anticipates more solid performances.
“The nice thing about our sport is, it's such an individual sport any time you have an opportunity to compete you have the opportunity to do your best. So we still have intentions of people performing at a very high level and keeping the momentum going.”
OSU set school records in the hurdles and in the hammer at the Lewis & Clark meet, and would have set another in the 400 relay if not for a missed final handoff.
“We had some really good performances, in a relatively low-key meet,” Sullivan said. “Coming at the end of finals, I am proud about how focused and intense they were even though they had a pretty busy week.
“It's pretty obvious our kids don't take finals lightly,” as the team GPA for the just-completed winter quarter was 3.65. “It's a very focused group.”
OSU's lone home competition is the third annual High Performance Meet, which this year has been expanded to a two-day event. It is scheduled for April 29-30 at the Whyte Track & Field Center.
For more information on the Oregon State track and field program, follow the Beavers on Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry, or on Twitter at twitter.com/@beavers_track.
OSU probable entrants (subject to change):
Charles Bowles Invitational
100 METERS: Michele Turney.
200 METERS: Devin Collins; Saskia McNairy (un).
800 METERS: Kelsi Schaer; Kala Kopecek; Macaulay Wilson (un).
1500 METERS: Gwyneth McMorris (un).
5000 METERS: Rachel Johnson.
400 HURDLES: Kerissa D'Arpino; Dakota Steen.
HIGH JUMP: Sara Almen; Allison Jackson; Amy Hilger; Jessica Lautenbach.
LONG JUMP: Bethany Imperial; Saskia McNairy (un).
TRIPLE LUMP: Jasmin McKenzie; Bethany Imperial; Michele Turney; Saskia McNairy (un).
POLE VAULT: Helen Ann Haun; Gillette Field; Annie Sidor
DISCUS: Melissa Ausman; McKenzie Byrd; Rachel Picknell; Kayla Fleskes.
HAMMER: Rachel Picknell; Melissa Ausman; McKenzie Byrd.
SHOT PUT: Melissa Ausman; Rachel Picknell.
JAVELIN: McKenzie Byrd; Kindel Bailey; Amber Peschka; Kayla Fleskes; Saskia McNairy (un).
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