Men Take Third; Women Eighth at All-Ohio

The Heidelberg University track and field programs continue to have impressive outings under the guidance of head coach Keith Roberts Jr. Most recently the Berg competed at the sixth annual All-Ohio Championships hosted by Otterbein College.
 
The men’s team finished third in the 20-team field with 71.5 points. Ohio Northern University won the team title with 91 points followed by Ohio Wesleyan University with 75 points.  Heidelberg had three championships en route to its third place team finish.
 
On the women’s side of the scoring, Heidelberg was paced by two championships. The Berg compiled 31 points on the day. Ohio Northern won the women’s event with 115.50 points and the host Cardinals followed in second with 84.10 points.
 
For the second-straight outing Seth Robertson (Burton, Ohio / Newbury) won the 400-meter dash. Today Robertson crossed the finish line in 50.80. Teammate Mark Childs (New Albany, Ohio / New Albany) provided a solid push for Robertson, as he raced to second in 51.05.
 
Joining Robertson with an individual title was Julius Higginbotham (Elyria, Ohio /Elyria). Higginbotham won the 55-meter dash in 6.48 and took to the field in the long jump and triple jump. When the sand settled Higginbotham won the long jump with a provisional qualifying leap of 23’2” and was second in the triple jump with a jump of 45’3.50”. Also providing points in the field events was Joe Yoder (West Liberty, Ohio / West Liberty Salem) with a third in the high jump (6’4”).
 
Taking home a strong second for the distance core was junior Devin Butcher (Bowling Green, Ohio / Bowling Green). Butcher finished the 5,000-meter run in 15:17.36.
 
Continuing to better herself on both the track and in the field since joining the women’s program has been Tomika Brown (Bellefontaine, Ohio / Bellefontaine). Brown opened the day winning the high jump in a provisional qualifying mark of 5’5.25”. She took to the track and improved on her school record in the 55-meter hurdles. In the preliminaries she topped her own record of 8.71 with an 8.60, only to return in the finals and finish third in a time of 8.59.
 
The quartet of Angela Zellner (Twinsburg, Ohio / Twinsburg), Brown, Shanice McLellan (Lima, Ohio / Lima Senior) and Judy Bataille (Felicity, Ohio / Felicity-Franklin) claimed the 4x200-meter relay title in a time of 1:45.87.
 
Also scoring points on the day with a seventh place finish in the 400-meter dash was Zellner (1:01.51) and the 4x400-meter relay team of Zellner, Jazmine Shaw (Columbus, Ohio / Hamilton Township), McLellan and Bataille with a seventh in a time of 4:13.28. Standing eighth in the 55-meter hurdles was McLellan (8.99).