Track & Field Made the Most of Its Opportunities

The Heidelberg College track and field team traveled to Wilmington College today for the Wilmington Invite. Not only did the meet mark an opportunity to gain a wealth of experience, it also allowed for the Berg to get an extra practice session in at the facility that will hold the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference Championships next weekend.

In 18 events on the men’s side, Heidelberg placed in the top-five in 11 events, while the women had seven events with at least one top-five finisher. Of the seven top events for the women, four had multiple placers.

On both sides Heidelberg continued to show its speed, as it claimed both 4x100-meter relays. The men finished in 42.57, while the women raced to a first in 50.67. Running for the men was Julius Higginbotham (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria), Paris Hilliard (Lorain, Ohio / Admiral King), Tyson Brown (Van Wert, Ohio / Van Wert) and Drew Swartz (Dearborn, Mich. / Dearborn), while Angela Zellner (Twinsburg, Ohio / Twinsburg), Colleen Nitchman (Wakeman, Ohio / Western Reserve), Catie Evers (Burkettsville, Ohio / St. Henry) and Alexis Goodman (Tiffin, Ohio / Columbian) represented the women.

Continuing on in the sprint department for the men was its 4x400-meter relay team of Seth Robertson (Burton, Ohio / Newbury), Mark Childs (New Albany, Ohio / New Albany), Reed Wolverton (Van Wert, Ohio / Van Wert) and Terrence Horton (Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington). The group took home runner-up honors in 3:24.48. Also placing in the top-five in the short sprints was Brown with a third in the 200-meter dash (23.02), while Jordan Alverez (Sherwood, Ohio / Fairview) finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.98) and fifth in the 100-meter hurdles (18.81).

The Heidelberg women showed a lot of depth in the sprint department today as well. Nitchman took home runner-up honors in the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.34, as well as the 100-meter dash (12.78). Nitchman was followed by Zellner (26.90) and Evers (27.02) in third and fourth respectively in the 200. Evers also took fourth in the 100-meter dash in 13.33, while Zellner was fifth (13.55). In the 100-meter hurdles Rachel Hill (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) was third in a time of 17.64.

Moving on to middle distance, the Heidelberg men continued to shine. Things began with Eric Hoogeveen (Westerville, Ohio / Liberty Benton) and Eric Holbrook (Circleville, OhioBascom, Ohio / Hopewell-Loudon) / Logan Elm) finishing second (4:06.91) and third (4:08.01) respectively in the 1,500-meter run. In the 800-meter run, Nick Reinhart (was third in a time of 1:59.26 and Wolverton was not far behind at 1:59.56, good enough for fourth.

Leading the way for the distance crew was Beau Thompson (Springfield, Ohio / Creenon) with a fifth in the 5,000-meter run (17:10.61).

Caitlyn Bromley (Stow, Ohio / Stow Monroe) lead the women’s middle distance runners with her second place finish in the 800-meter run. Bromley crossed the finish line in 2:26.21.

Rounding out the day for the men’s side was a long jump championship by Higginbotham. He leaped 21’4” for the win. Also taking home a top-five finish in the field events was Adam Bumb (Alvada, Ohio / New Riegel) with a fourth in the triple jump (38’4.25”).

Breanca Madison (Columbus, Ohio / Africentric Secondary School) and Jessica Smith (Lorain, Ohio / Admiral King) were a solid one-two punch in the field events for the women. Madison finished third in the long jump (15’11”) and fourth in the triple jump (30’5.5”). Smith traded spots with Madison in both events, taking home third in the triple jump (31’11.5”) and fifth in the long jump (14’5.25”).