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Scots send four to nationals, 10 others just miss
Release Date:
May 19, 2009
MONMOUTH, Ill. —
Monmouth College may only have four athletes in this week’s
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Marietta College in
Marietta, Ohio, but three of the Fighting Scots are ranked in the
top five in their events and one has the nation’s best mark.
Seniors Tanesha Hughes (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) and
Shannon Turczyn (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru), junior Gloria Lehr
(Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) and sophomore Logan Hohl (Orion,
Ill./Orion) will lead a small, but talented group to the meet which
runs Thursday through Saturday.
“It’s not going to be 20 qualifiers for us every year,” said
coach Roger Haynes. “As coaches, any time you can put kids in
the national meet, the season has been a success.”
Entering the meet, it appears Hughes may have the best chance at
a national title. The throws specialist qualified in two events
(discus and shot put) and is the top-ranked thrower entering
Friday’s discus competition. She automatically qualified for the
national meet with a throw of 164’5” at the Augustana Invitational
in April. Making her third national appearance in the discus, Hughes
is hoping to reach All-American status for the first time.
“Tanesha has been very consistent with the rest of the field,”
said Haynes. “She threw over 161 feet at the conference meet under
poor weather conditions. She can throw over 160 again, but the
conditions would have to be right. She has great fundamentals in all
her throws and has been very consistent with throws in the 150s
which will benefit her this weekend.”
Hughes’ closest competitor in the discus – UW-Oshkosh’s Ellie
Sitek – is more than four feet back of Hughes’ best throw and only
one other competitor is within 10 feet. Hughes’ provisional mark in
the shot put of 44’5-1/2” has her ranked 11th for Saturday’s event,
just a little more than four feet behind the leader, Monique Riddick
of Montclair State.
Lehr, an indoor qualifier in the shot put, is
making her first outdoor appearance in the discus. Her season-best
discus throw of 143’2” has her ranked 16th.
“The discus is probably not her favorite
event,” reported Haynes of Lehr. “She has made great progress this
season with her fundamentals. This will be a good learning
experience for her and that will benefit her next year.”
Turczyn – a four-time All-American – clocked an
automatic qualifying time of 14.29 in the 100-meter hurdles at the
Midwest Conference Championships and is ranked fifth heading into
Friday’s prelims. She is less than a half-second back of the
nation’s top time of Simpson College’s Lauren Bucklin.
“She should be well-rested for this weekend,”
reported Haynes. “She’s always dropped her times at the national
meet and I’m confident she’ll be able to do that again. The second
half of the race has always been her strong point, but it’s a very
talented field.”
Hohl, the lone men’s representative,
automatically qualified for the 400-meter hurdles after clocking a
52.56 at the regular season-ending Gregory Invitational at North
Central College last Friday. A two-time All-American indoors and a
four-time qualifier in two events indoors, Hohl has the third-best
time in the nation, just three-tenths back of the leader, Todd
Wildman of Trinity University (Texas). Hohl will be the first
Fighting Scot to compete, as the prelims of the 400 hurdles are set
for Thursday.
“He ran a very nice race Friday night with
damp, wet conditions,” said Haynes. “He handled the conditions very
well and moved himself into a very elite group. He was very good
through the last three hurdles and the last 100 meters. He’s a very
efficient hurdler and I think he can repeat that performance.”
As talented as the Scots’ representatives at
the national meet are, just as impressive is the list of athletes
that had provisional performances but fell short of qualifying for
the trip.
Sophomores Mary Kate Beyer and Tyler
Hannam came as close as possible without making the national
field. Beyer’s 10:56.60 in the steeplechase missed the cut by just
over two seconds and Hannam was just a quarter inch from advancing
in the high jump. Sophomores Kyle Prout and Saidu Sesay,
freshman Shane Reschke and senior Aaron Daverin formed
the men’s 4x100 relay team that was two-tenths from qualifying for
the national meet. Other near-misses came from Dan Higgins in
the javelin (just over five feet), Sam Cokinos in the shot
put (less than two feet), Megan McKenna in the pole vault
(five inches) and Lehr in two events – the shot put (one foot) and
hammer throw (10 feet). Peyton Lumzy was another who was
close, but his season-best in the discus was just a foot from the
provisional standard.
“We’re pleased with what we have this year, but
we’re also pleased with the young ones we have coming back next
year,” said Haynes. “We have a very talented returning group that
should be able to build on this year’s experience.”
That returning experience just might include an
All-American or two.
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