Four more records fall for Pioneers at Marietta Open #1

MARETTA, Ohio – Following a six-week lay-off, the Marietta College track & field team returned to action Saturday (Jan. 21) at the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center for the Marietta Open #1, the second of five home meets during the 2006 indoor season. The men collected 40 points to finish in seventh place, while the women placed eleventh with 21.50 points at the meet, which included 13 women\'s teams and 12 men\'s squads.

Ohio University swept the competition, finishing with 214 points in the women\'s standings and 173 in the men\'s. West Virginia Wesleyan (101 points) and Morehead State (90 points) rounded out the top three finishers on the men\'s side, while Wright State (85 points) and Robert Morris (74.50 points) took second and third place, respectively in the women\'s competition.

Highlight\'s from Marietta\'s day at the meet, included junior Fizzy Ramsey\'s record-setting mark in the women\'s pole vault. Ramsey, who placed third, cleared 3.05m (10-00.00) to surpass her previous school record of 2.89m, set in 2004.

Freshman Jessica Haas also set a new Marietta standard in the women\'s 300m dash, finishing sixth with a time of 46.79. The mark broke Heather Rognon\'s record of 47.3, set during the 2003-04 season.

Two other school records fell on the men\'s side, as the 4x200m relay and distance medley relay teams both had record-breaking runs. The 4x200m relay team, which consisted of Seth Gordon, Joe Webb, JJ Schnarrs and Jason Curry, placed third with a time of 1:36.81. The mark broke the previous record of 1:38.04, which was established in 1987. The DMR, which featured Harrison Potter, Isiah Johnson, Jered Mitchem and Clark Spears, finished in 11:06.87 to place fifth. The foursome broke the previous record of 11:28.11, which was set last season.

In addition to the falling records, other noteworthy performances for the women\'s team included Haas\' seventh place finish in the 500m dash (1:27.77), Marissa Barnhart\'s seventh place finish in the triple jump (9.51m/31-02.50), Tiffany Kovacevich\'s seventh place finish in the shot put (10.63m/34-10.50) and eighth place finish in the weight throw (11.52m/37-09.50) and Rachel Forman\'s seventh place finish in the weight throw (11.60m/38-00.75). Both of Kovacevich\'s marks were new personal bests.

Men\'s top finishers included Tim Roberts\' performance in the 400m dash. Roberts set new personal record with a time of 54.59 and placed sixth. In addition, Potter placed sixth in the mile run with a time of 4:46.72 and Spears (9:28.89) ran to a fourth place finish in the 3000m run. Seth Townsend set new PRs in the high jump (1.88m/6-02.00) and long jump (6.15m/20-02.25) to finish third and seventh, respectively. Chad Showen (3.96m/12-11.75) took seventh in the pole vault, Curry (6.31m/20-08.50) placed sixth in the long jump and Dan DeZordo (13.88m/45-06.50) took eighth in the shot put.

The Pioneers will return to action Saturday (Jan. 28) when they host the other nine Conference schools for the OAC Relays. Action begins 11 a.m. inside the DBRC.