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Printer-Friendly ModeTrack team places well in first meet after month break
Baranek, Bishop earn two first-place finishes each in Collegiate Open
January 16, 2006 —
The SVSU men and women track teams combined for 12 first place finishes in the Cardinal Collegiate Open on Friday, the Cardinals' second meet of the indoor season.
The men, led by senior sprinter Chris Baranek, had eight victories while the women, led by junior thrower Ashley Bishop, had four.
"It was a good opening meet," said coach Jim Nesbitt. "They've been gone from break so it was good to see the performance.
Baranek took first in both the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash, finishing with times of 6.94 and 22.71 seconds, respectively.
The senior is redshirting this year, but because it was an open meet, he was able to run with the Saginaw Valley Club Team. Unlike sports such as football and basketball, track athletes that are redshirting can still compete in open meets.
Bishop won the weight throw and shot put with distances of 54 feet, 7 inches and 42 feet, 6.25 inches, respectively.
Other first place finishes for the men included sophomore sprinter Justin Thomason, who won the 400-meter in 51.12 seconds; junior distance runner Brandon Johnson, finishing the 3000-meter in 8:44:72; freshman hurdler Sam Tilmon, who took the 60-meter hurdles in 8.59 seconds.
The 'A' 4x400-meter relay team - Thomason, senior Mario Guerrero, sophomore Eltaro Hooper, and sophomore Kyle Dengler - won with a time of 3:27:89.
Hooper, who took the high jump at 6 feet, 7 inches, took first, while freshman pole vaulter Kyle McDaniel cleared 13'6" for first place.
Junior Jessica Sweeny won the 800-meter in 2:20:60 and the 'A' 4x400-meter team, consisting of sophomore Brittany Gendron, freshman Ashley Morrow, Sweeney, and senior Lisa Fair, won its relay at 4:10:94. In all, the women had 14 top-3 finishes.
The Cardinals' last meet was on Dec. 9, giving them more than a month in between meets.
"Any time you are off for a month, the athletes start to get sore," said Nesbitt, who added that he is leading workouts to try to prevent the soreness from occurring. "It's hard to control how much they are working out when they are back at home."
The teams will host the SVSU Collegiate Open on Friday at 3 p.m. in the Ryder Center. Nesbitt expects at least 10 teams to compete, including Northwood, the University of Windsor, Sienna Heights, Spring Arbor University, Aquinas College, and other GLIAC schools.
"I'm looking forward to a great meet," said Nesbitt, who added that the athletes' muscles truly begin to get sore by the second and third meets of the year.
The coach also added that there will be t-shirts for those finishing in the top three.