Stand Out Weekend for 'Berg at All-Ohio

The Heidelberg College women’s track team placed seventh out of 17 teams and the men captured second against 16 opponents at the All-Ohio Championships held at Otterbein College.

Julius Higginbotham (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) commanded the field events for the men, capturing the long jump title with a national championship provisional qualifying jump of 23’ 0.75 ” and a third place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 43’ 9.25 ”. Higginbotham also ran his way to a fourth place finish in the 55-meter dash (6.6 seconds), followed by Paris Hilliard (Lorain, Ohio / Admiral King) in fifth (6.61 seconds).

Cory Beebe (Medina, Ohio Cloverleaf) came in second in the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 7.9 seconds and Devin Butcher (Bowling Green, Ohio / Bowling Green) nabbed third in the 5000-meter run in a time of 15:28.89. Other individual placers for the men included a third place finish for Scott Lasch (Huron, Ohio / Huron) in the mile run (4:22.57), a second place nod for Wes Hendricks (Beavercreek, Ohio / Beavercreek) in the 400-meter dash (50.71), and second and third place finishes for Mark Childs (New Albany, Ohio / New Albany) and Lasch respectively in the 800-meter run. Childs finished in 1:57.25 and Lasch completed the race in 1:58.00.

The men also won the 4x200-meter relay in a time of 1:30.04 and placed second in the 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:22.83 just .28 seconds out of first.

The women saw a winning performance from Judy Bataille (Felicity, Ohio / Felicity-Franklin) in the 55-meter dash, who broke her own record for the third time this season. She ran the race in 7.12 seconds, beating her old record by .05. Bataille's mark also automatically qualifies her for the NCAA Championships and currently sits atop the nation. Colleen Nitchman (Wakeman, Ohio / Western Reserve) came in third in the same event, running a time of 7.44.

The women also broke another record set earlier this season by more than a second when they won the 4x200 meter relay in 1:45.55, previous time was 1:46.87. They also came in first in the 4x400-meter relay in 4:08.31.

The Berg returns to action Saturday, February 23, at the Kent State Tune-Up.