Annie Beecham set a new school record in the 5,000 meters and freshmen Melissa Thompson and Juli Accurso both eclipsed the school record in the mile as Ohio's distance runners continued their strong performances in the indoor season.
At the Alex Wilson Invitational (Last Chance Meet) hosted by Notre Dame University, Ohio runners broke school records in two events and have now set new program-bests in the 5,000, 3,000, mile and DMR events during the 2011 indoor season.
The two-day meet served as one of the designated "last chance" meets in the country, giving student-athletes a final opportunity to qualify for the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships next weekend in College Station, Texas.
Beecham, who was coming off a second-place finish in the MAC Championships, finished third in the 5,000 meters, running 16:22.51 and setting a new Ohio school record.
Last weekend, Beecham finished behind Miami's Rachel Patterson, who won the 5K and 3k at the MAC Championships. Beecham bested her on this day and now owns Ohio school records for the indoor 3,000 and 5,000-meter events along with the best 5K time in the Bobcat cross-country record books.
Emily Pifer also ran the 5K for Ohio and finished with a personal-best time of 17:39.50.
In the mile, Thompson and Accurso both broke the school record for Ohio. Thompson finished in 4:50.90 and Accurso was two seconds behind her at 4:52.97. The former record was held by Melissa Converse at 4:55.04 set in 1999.
Earlier this season, the DMR team of Accurso, Thompson, Kiley Mathews, and Courtney Weiss broke the school record by nine seconds. The DMR record was set in 1998 by the quartet of Melissa Converse, Najah McFarland, Sabrina Miller and Julie Kline.
Now the Cats switch to outdoor season. The ladies will travel all over during the first two weeks of the season. The majority of the team will head to Coastal Carolina University and Winthrop University. A few distance ladies will travel to Wake Forest and then on to the Stanford Invitational. These meets will occur on the weekends of March 18 and 19, and March 25 and 26.
Bring Back Men's Track & Field
|