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LATEST NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

6/6 - The 2009 track and field season has seen Brittany Wilson-Farley become the dominant shot putter in the state of Ohio.  She started out by winning the State Indoor Championship by over 5 feet, broke the oldest record in the FAVC by 4 feet, and easily handled the competition at the District and Regional meets.  She was the FAVC Most Valuable Field Event Athlete of the Year and all year held the number 1 mark in the state of Ohio.  Only one accomplishment was left for Brittany to put an exclamation mark on the year.  She accomplished this by winning a STATE TITLE in the shot put in dominating fashion at the OHSAA State Track and Field Meet held this past weekend in Columbus!!

Brittany entered the throwing circle on Saturday as the clear cut favorite in the shot put and had to face all of the pressure that went with that.  Unlike at the Regional meet where she showed a case of the jitters, Brittany was anxious and ready to get going at State.  Her 1st throw was a modest 41' 10.75".  She quickly began to build on this with a 43' 1" and then with the last throw of the prelims launched a career best 45' 5".  This attempt all but locked up the title and Brittany had nothing to lose in the finals so she launched an impressive series of bombs:  42' 3", 44' 8", and finally 44' 5".  No other competitor came close as 2nd place was a distant 43' 1/2", nearly 2.5 feet from Brittany's best mark.  A measure of Britt's mastery over the competition can be seen by realizing that 4 of Brittany's throws would have won the event!  Brittany's state title is the 9th in the history of Harrison High School and the 4th that comes from the track and field program.  Brittany also stands alone as the only girl in the history of the school to win a state title.  Also of note is that this was Miss Wilson-Farley's 3rd trip to state having placed 4th and 8th before transferring to Harrison from Colerain.  Brittany's mark of 45'5" is also a full 5 feet better than her state mark from the previous year and shows just how far she has come since coming under the tutelage of throws coach Greg Zuleger.  Congratulations to Brittany on a tremendous year with a fantastic finish.

Brittany was not the only Harrison athlete competing at the State meet.  While she was winning the shot put, across the street inside the stadium Annie Robben was getting her first taste of state competition in front of a jam packed and raucous Jesse Owens Stadium.  Annie faced stiff competition as all 16 competitors cleared 10' during the Regional meet with the best mark being 13'!  Annie showed no signs of nervousness in front of the big crowd, but struggled during warm ups trying to find a consistent run.  She sailed over 10' on her 1st attempt but then struggled at 10' 6" with misses on the first two.  With the pressure on, she cleared that mark on the 3rd try and stayed alive.  The old nemesis of 11' followed and while she had a couple of good attempts at the height, she could not clear it.  While a little disappointed with an 11th place finish, Annie gained valuable experience that she can use next year where she hopes to step up on to the awards stand.  Great job to both girls on their excellent seasons!


5/29 - Five of our athletes made the trip up to Dayton's Welcome Stadium to compete at the Regional Track and Field Championships.  All of them competed well and two, Brittany Wilson-Farley and Annie Robben, will have their season's continue on to the State Meet!  On the first day of the meet, only long jumper Dillon Meyers competed.  Dillon continued his amazing end of the season surge as he hit a personal best mark on the very first jump of the meet.  Dillon's mark of 22' 1/4" not only was his 4th straight week of improvement in the long jump but also set the tone for the entire competition.  With 6 athletes over the 22' mark, getting to State proved to be incredibly tough and Dillon had to settle for a 6th place finish and a spot on the awards stand.  Congratulations to Dillon on a great season and career.

The remaining 4 athletes made the trip to Dayton on Friday.  Brittany Wilson-Farley was the Regional Champion in the shot put as she bested the other competitors by almost 3 feet.  Brittany had to overcome a few pre-meet jitters which might have affected her mark (43' 4.75"), but she won and will now move on to the State competition.  At the pole vault, Annie Robben was able to re-discover her early season form after taking off a month for an injured back and place 3rd with a mark of 10'6".  Annie entered the competition at 10' 0" which was a bit of a gamble having never done it before.  After nervously getting over the mark on her 1st attempt and then watching several other competitors pick up misses at the same height she passed at the next height (10' 3").  When she re-entered the competition at 10' 6", Annie already had her spot in the top 4 locked up.  To put a punctuation mark on her performance, Annie then cleared 10' 6" just like it was like riding a bike.  Two vaults = one trip to State!  Annie's state berth comes after 7 months of tremendous amounts of hard work and dedication and one very frustrating month where it looked as if all the work would be for nothing.  It is very deserving!  Our other vaulter, Michelle Brackett also did well as she cleared 9' 0" and placed in a tie for 9th.  While Michelle was disappointed in her mark, she capped a fantastic season by getting her feet wet at the Regional meet and picking up valuable experience for next year.  Finally Adam Schneider ended his track career by placing 13th in the shot put with a best throw of 46' 4".  Adam worked very hard over the last 4 years and it was great to see his career culminate with a trip to this meet.  Congratulations to all of our athletes!!


5/22 - The girl's used another dominating performance in the field events and some excellent running from the distance crew to place an impressive 5th at the District Track and Field meet.  The team was just 1/2 of a point out of 4th and 7 points out of 3rd place.  This marks the highest the girl's team has finished at Districts in at least the last 8 years and after a season marked by injuries and turmoil it is quite an accomplishment.  The early scoring was led by the pole vaulters and throwers.  At the vault, the duo of Michelle Brackett and Annie Robben swept the top 2 spots and each earned a trip to the Dayton Regionals.  Both vaulters cleared 9'6", but this time it was Michelle Brackett who came out on top (on misses) as she earned her 1st District Championship.  Michelle has been on an incredible run over the last couple of weeks as she has set a new personal best at each of the last 2 meets.  Peaking when it counts!  Michelle's clearance of 9'6" gave her a 2 foot improvement over the mark she cleared at the same meet last year.  Meanwhile Annie Robben continues to deal with her assorted injuries and once she knew she was going to make her 2nd straight trip to Regionals decided to step out of the competition and get ready for next week.  Inside the throwing circle, Brittany Wilson-Farley continued to dominate as she was District Champion in both the shot put and discus.  Brittany set a new District record in the shot with a heave of 44'0" as she easily won the event.  Things were a bit closer in the discus, but she pulled out 1st with a mark of 112'2".  Alecia Littleton also did well as she placed 8th in both throwing events.  Alecia set a new personal best in the shot put (31'6.25") and managed 97'7" in the discus.  Meanwhile, on the track, the distance runners were also doing quite well.  Hannah Wegman placed 5th in the 3200m run by pacing herself to the 2nd best time in school history (11:59.56).  While placing 5th was tough to swallow, there was no doubt that Hannah left everything out on the track to cap a fantastic senior season.  Alli Meyers also ran a great PR in the 800m run (2:26.28) and placed 7th.  Alli executed her race plan perfectly and will look forward to what could be a great season next year.  Sophomore Emily Adams placed in both the 100m (13.25) and 200m (27.70) dashes and the scoring was finally rounded out with a 7th place finish by the 3200m relay team (Alli Meyers, Hannah Wegman, Michelle Woelfel, and Sara Milner).  Great job to all of the girls!!

The boy's placed 10th at the District meet and will send 2 seniors off to the Regional meet.  Dillon Meyers continues to have a great run in the long jump by recording his 3 straight week of personal bests in the event.  Dillon jumped to a great mark of 21'9" and looked to have a District Championship locked up until it was snatched from him in the last jump of the competition (for the 2nd straight week!).  He settled for 2nd and will now set his sights on a berth in the State meet.  Adam Schneider also moved on to Dayton with a 3rd place finish (46'4..75") in the shot put.  Adam came through with some clutch throws in the finals to put him in the qualification spot.  This is a great reward for Adam who has put in a heck of a lot of hard work over the past 4 years to get to this point.  Elsewhere, the boys experienced some hard luck and came up just short of qualification.  Randy Doss tried his hand at the 400m dash and placed 6th with a personal best time of (51.37).  Randy adjusted his race strategy for the finals and while it was good enough for a great time, he came up just short of moving on.  After a season of tremendous commitment and work, Bobby Sherman was rewarded with a 6th place in the 1600m run (4:44).  Also placing for the boys were Ed Lehrter (7th in the pole vault) and Brandon Robinson (8th in the discus).


5/15 - The girl's track and field team took 5th at the FAVC Championships.  The meet was contested at the sparkling new Winton Woods track facility under relatively pleasant conditions (just a little rain!).  The field contingent of the team dominated on the 1st day of competition.  Brittany Wilson-Farley was once again setting records in the shot put.  She launched an amazing throw of 45'0" during the competition.  This broke several records:  her own school record, the FAVC meet record (which she destroyed - this was the oldest standing track record of 41'1"), put her 2nd in Cincinnati history, and moved her into the top 25 in the nation!  At the discus, Brittany and throwing mate Alecia Littleton tied each with a throw of 94'5".  Alecia took 2nd based on a better 2nd throw and Brittany got 3rd.  At the pole vault, Annie Robben and Michelle Brackett dominated the competition sweeping the top 2 spots.  Annie marked her return to the vault with a modest 9'6" (her 2nd straight league championship) while Michelle launched herself to a new PR of 9'0".  Elsewhere at the field events, Kaley Myers placed 3rd in the high jump and Erin Hotopp picked up 4th in the long jump.  At the end of the 1st day, the girls where on top of the meet in 1st place.  The running finals on day 2 found points hard to come by as the team was beset by its usual nemesis:  injuries.  Placing on the track for the girls were:  the 4x800m relay (Alli Meyers, Hannah Wegman, Michelle Woelfel, and Sara Milner), Michelle Brackett (100m and 300m hurdles - two nice PRs!), Brittany Hall (400m dash), Kaley Myers (300m hurdles - another PR), Alli Meyers (800m run), and Hannah Wegman (3200m run - 7 second PR!).  Great job to all the girls for putting their best effort on the track!

The boy's team placed 4th at the meet (just edging out Loveland by 1 point).  Again, the field events proved to be a strength for the team.  Ed Lehrter won his 2nd straight league title by tying his personal best of 12'6".  Joey Lonneman also placed well in the vault with a 4th place finish.  Dillon Meyers set a new personal best in the long jump with a mark of 21'7" and a 2nd place finish.  Adam Schneider and Zach Lonneman picked up important points in the shot put with a 3rd and 4th place finish.  Finally, Brandon Robinson PR'd (126'2") and got a valuable 2 points.  On the track, the 4x100m relay team defended their league title from last year with their best run of the season.  David Hayes, Randy Doss, Tyler Elrod, and Dillon Meyers teamed to run a 43.9 on the relay and once again placed 1st.  Other placers included:  Tyler Elrod (4th in the 100m dash), Randy Doss (4th) and Dillon Meyers (5th) in the 200m dash, Bobby Sherman (5th in the 3200m run), and Doss, Elrod, Zach Lonneman, and Stef Abt in the 4x400m relay.


 

5/7 - Two school records fell and some fine performances were left out on the track at the Best of the West meet.  Although both teams placed 5th, the boys and girls did a great job in preparing themselves for the upcoming league and district meets.

Brittany Wilson-Farley dominated the shot put competition with a heave of 44'2".  Not only did this break Brittany's own school record but it also was the 3rd best throw in the history of Cincinnati track and field and put her in the top 30 throwers in the nation.  This meet was the first chance for Brittany to match up against her former teammates from Colerain and she showed that she's greatly improved since last year.  Brittany also won the discus competition.  Elsewhere at the meet, Michelle Brackett continued to make improvements in the pole vault.  She won the event and once again cleared 8'6" and nearly had 9' as her entire body (save for her head) cleared the bar.  Hannah Wegman also turned in an impressive performance in the 3200m run.  She ran another PR (12:14) and overcame a large deficit to pass a competitor for 2nd place near the end of the race.  Emily Adams rounded also placed in the top 3 as she got 3rd in the 100m dash and continued to run fast times here at the end of the year.  Other fine performances were turned in by Brittany Hall (4th in the 400), Kaley Myers (4th in the 300 hurdles), and Alecia Littleton (4th in the discus). 

The 2nd school record breaker of the night was turned in by the 4x200m relay team of David Hayes, Randy Doss, Tyler Elrod, and Dillon Meyers.  They shaved a half of a second off the the previous record that had stood for 39 years (one of the previous holders - Jerry Dean - was in attendance).  This performance cements the status of Randy and Dillon as two of the best sprinters in Harrison track history as they are both now a part of all 3 sprint relays.  This quartet was not done for the night as they re-combined to place 2nd in the 4x100.  Dillon also picked up two 2nd place finishes in the long jump and 200m dash while Randy was 3rd in the same race.  This meet also marked the 1st win of sophomore Bobby Sherman's career has he won the 1600m run with a fine time of 4:44.  Other top performances were:  Adam Schneider in the shot put (3rd), Ed Lehrter in the pole vault (3rd), and a great run by the 4x4 team of Doss, Elrod, Adam Pemberton, and Zack Lonneman (3rd). 


5/1 - The girls used a balanced attack to place 2nd out of 13 teams at the rainy Ross Invitational.  The Ross track has become a home away from home for the girls the last few years and this meet was no different as a number of individuals had outstanding performances.  Junior Alli Meyers led the way as she won the 800m run with a personal best time of 2:30.  Alli not only won the race but also overcame a 5 meter deficit in the last seconds of the race to pick up the win.  Alli also led off for the 1st place 4x800m relay team and was joined by Hannah Wegman, Michelle Woelfel, and Sara Milner.  Both Michelle and Sara had huge breakthroughs during their legs of the relay.  Second place finishes were turned in by Hannah Wegman (a PR in the 3200m run), Brittany Wilson-Farley (also a PR in the discus), and the 4x4 relay team of Brittany Hall, Emily Adams, Alli Meyers, and Michelle Woelfel.  Brittany Hall continued her remarkable comeback from ACL surgery by also picking up a 3rd place finish in the 400m dash with a time of 1:03.7.  Emily Adams also continued her improvements in the sprints with a 3rd place finish in the 200m dash.  Other placers included Michelle "Points Machine" Brackett, Kaley Myers, Alecia Littleton, Erin Hotopp, Jo Hirlinger, and Amanda Ruwe.  The girls have taken a lot of hits this year with key losses to a large number of the team, but they continue to churn out positive results.

The boys used an impressive showing from the field events and sprinters to place 4th out of 14 teams at the Ross Invitational.  Leading the way for the boys was Dillon Meyers who won the rain-soaked long jump and placed 3rd in the 200m dash.  Dillon also teamed with David Hayes, Randy Doss, and Tyler Elrod to place 2nd in the 4x100m relay.  Ed Lehrter continues to be a dependable performer in the pole vault.  He picked up a 2nd place finish with a vault of 12'0".  Bobby Sherman also showed some great improvement getting 2 PR's in the 1600m and 800m runs.  Bobby is poised for a big break through at the end of the year after a full season of dedication and hard work.  Also placing for the boy's at the meet were:  Adam Schneider (shot), Brandon Robinson (discus), Zach Lonneman (shot), Joey Lonneman (PV), Tyler Elrod (triple jump and 100m dash), David Hayes (triple jump), the 4x200m relay (Hayes, Doss, and the Lonneman boys), and the 4x400m relay (Doss, Meyers, Elrod, and Zack Lonneman).


4/24 - The conditions for the Harrison Invitational were near perfect as it was warm, sunny, and had a stiff tail wind for the sprinters.  All of these contributed to some fast times and great performances as the girls placed 2nd as a team while the boys were one step down at 3rd.

This meet marked the return to competition for Brittany Wilson-Farley who has been out since the first outdoor meet with a knee injury.  Brittany picked up right were she left off as she won both the shot put and discus, claimed the Most Valuable Field Event Performer Award, and broke the meet record in the shot put with a throw of 42'6.75".  Other event champions were Michelle Brackett in the pole vault (8'6") and Hannah Wegman in the 3200m run (12:23.4).  The girls also had a slew of other top 3 finishers.  These included:  Alecia Littleton (two big PR's with a 2nd in the discus and 3rd in the shot), Kaley Myers (3rd in HJ), the 4x800m relay team (Alli Meyers, Sara Milner, Michelle Woelfel, and Amanda Ruwe), Hannah Wegman (2nd in the 1600), Brittany Hall (2nd in the 400m dash), Michelle Woelfel (3rd in the 400), Michelle Brackett (3rd in 300m hurdles with a PR), Alli Meyers (3rd in the 800), and Emily Adams (3rd in the 200m and a blazing time in the 100!).

The boy's had several highlights as it was a huge day in the throwing events while the sprinters took advantage of the wind to run some great times!  Event champions were Adam Schneider in the shot put (46'10.75"-huge PR!), Ed Lehrter in the vault (11'6"), and Dillon Meyers in the 200m dash (22.64).  Second place finishes were picked up by Zach Lonneman in the shot put (45'11.75"-6 foot PR!), Joey Lonneman in the vault (11'0" - another PR), Dillon Meyers in the LJ (21'3"), Randy Doss in the 100m dash (11.03!), and the 4x100m relay of Doss, Meyers, David Hayes, and Tyler Elrod (a season's best 44.44).  Also performing well and picking up 4th place finishes were Brandon Robinson and Bobby Sherman.


4/18 - 16 of our athletes ventured south to Knoxville, TN to compete in the prestigious Volunteer Track Classic on the beautiful campus of the University of Tennessee.  Traditionally this meet not only attracts the top competitors from the region but it also provides a perfect setting for a track meet.  Tennessee is a powerhouse in the highly competitive SEC and has churned out national, world, and Olympic champions.  Running in a meet on this campus where so many champions have raced and trained in the past provided for a great experience for our athletes.  The weather also didn't disappoint as it was warm and sunny and provided a great escape from the bleak weather we experienced earlier in the week.

With 1800 athletes registered for the meet, it would be tough to place high in the meet.  Not only did we do that, but each of our competitors stepped up and performed at their best.  Annie Robben was our only placer as she vaulted to an impressive 4th place finish in the pole vault with a mark of 10' 6".  Not too be outdone, Ed Lehrter got a new pole and a new PR of 12'6" and placed 11th in the meet.  Ed is now less than a foot from breaking one of the oldest marks in the Harrison record book.  Also placing 11th was Dillon Meyers in the long jump (20'3") and Alecia Littleton in the discus (93').   The rest of our athletes stepped up to the competition and performed well as they bested or matched season/personal bests:  Hannah Wegman (1600 and 800), Bobby Sherman (1600 and 800), Adam Schneider and Zach Lonneman (shot put), Joey Lonneman (200m dash), Randy Doss (400m dash), and the 4x100 relay team of Doss, Meyers, David Hayes, and Tyler Elrod).

Finally, the meet also marked the return to the track of Brittany Hall.  Brittany had a devastating knee injury back in November and it looked like she would miss most if not all of the track season.  But Brittany refused to give up and after a lot of pain, rehab, and tears she turned out to be well ahead of schedule in her recovery and was cleared to compete on the track.  Brittany and her constant companion (her brace) competed in the 400m dash and she turned in a great time of 1:07.8 which exceeded everyone's expectations (except for her own).  Great job to Brittany for never giving up since her injury and making it back out!!


4/8 - The cold temperatures and high winds of Monday turned the format for the Coaches Classic upsidedown, as the qualifying meet was cancelled and every athlete was moved into the finals on Wednesday at Fairfield.  With the possibility of having 64 athletes in each and every event, we knew we were in for a LONG day.  But that didn't deter our competitors as several fantastic marks were turned in during the course of the day.

The girl's placed 16th out of 32 teams.  All of the points were scored at the pole vault pit as Annie Robben defended her title from last year and Michelle Brackett broke through to establish a new personal best.  Annie continued her dominance of the Cincinnati area vaulters as she easily won with a mark of 10'.  After winning, the bar was raised to 10'9" in hopes of establishing a new meet and school record.  While she came up short, she showed promise on the larger pole she used.  Meanwhile, Michelle finally cleared her previous nemesis of 8'6" and placed 6th in the event.  Elsewhere, Hannah Wegman posted a blazing time of 12:17 in the 3200m which is the fastest time posted by a Harrison girl in at least 8 years.  This time was good enough for 9th.   Hannah was joined in the event by Amanda Ruwe who also ran a great time of 13:15.  Erin Hotopp launched herself to yet another PR in the long jump.  This time it was an impressive mark of 14'9".  Finally, Michelle Woelfel ran her fastest 400m dash in almost 2 years by coming across the line at 1:04.8. 

With nearly 64 entries in almost every event, the boys found points hard to come by but still managed to put up some great marks for this time of the year.  Eddie Lehrter was the highest placer with a mark of 11'6" in the vault.  Also placing for the boys was the 4x100m relay team of David Hayes, Randy Doss, Tyler Elrod, and Dillon Meyers.  They came across in 8th with a time of 44.91.  The trio of Hayes, Doss, and Elrod were joined by Joey Lonneman for an 11th place finish in the 4x200m relay.  Randy then came in 9th in the 200m dash.  Finally, Bobby Sherman ran a PR in the 3200m run with a mark of 10:30.


 


4/3 - The girl's track and field team used a dominant performance in the field events to push themselves to a 3rd place finish at the FAVC relays at Glen Este High School.  The team scored 68 points and were just 2 points behind 2nd place Milford.  Emily Adams and Kaley Myers combined to win the high jump with a combined jump of 8'10".  Emily after just 1 day of practice finished with the best overall height of 4'6".  Annie Robben (10'6") and Michelle Brackett (8'0") dominated the pole vault also picking up 1st.  Third place was captured by the long jump duo of Erin Hotopp (a personal best 14') and Michelle Woelfel (12'1").  Also picking up third was the shot put duo of Alecia Littleton (28'6") and Annie Robben who had an impressive debut in the shot put of 29'0.5".  On the track, the girls also performed well where Robben, Brackett, and Myers combined to sweep 1st in all 3 heats of the 3x300m hurdles and the 4x400 relay was led by Michelle Brackett who overcame a 10 meter deficit in the last segment of the race to capture 2nd.  Michelle was joined by Emily Adams, Michelle Woelfel, and Sara Milner. Finally, the sprint medley relay of Adams, Myers, Woelfel, and Robben capped off the night with a 3rd place finish.

The boys were also led by some great performances from the field events as they placed 5th at the Relays.  Ed Lehrter put together some of the best vaults of his career as he and newcomer Joey Lonneman won the pole vault competition.  Ed posted his 2nd best mark ever (11'9") while Joey opened up with a mark of 10'.  Dillon Meyers and Tyler Elrod also took home 1st in the long jump relay.  Dillon leaped to a mark of 19'9" while Tyler Elrod posted a personal best mark of 18'4".  The shot put also proved to be a strong event for the boys as Adam Schneider (43'8") and Zach Lonneman (38'11.5") placed 2nd.  On the track, the sprint relays scored some valuable points.  The 4x100m relay team of David Hayes, Randy Doss, Tyler Elrod, and Dillon Meyers ran the most exciting race of the night.  Dillon used a furious charge to close the gap on 1st place Winton Woods during the last leg of the race but came up just short and had to settle for 2nd.  The 4x200 team of Hayes, Elrod, Lehrter and Zach Lonneman placed 3rd for the boys.


3/28  -The 2009 Harrison Wildcat Track & Field team opened up the outdoor season at home with an all-comers meet that included some of the best competition from around the area.  No less than 9 state qualifiers from teams like Lebanon, Lakota West, Glen Este, and Oak Hills competed on the track.  And although rain was promised and threatened all day long, we stayed relatively dry and had a great meet.

The girls, led by Brittany Wilson-Farley and Annie Robben, placed an impressive 3rd scoring 92 points just behind Oak Hills.  Brittany opened her day by winning the discus and then breaking the Harrison school record in the shot put with an impressive put of 42'7.5".  Unfortunately, Brittany's day came to an abrupt halt on her 2nd throw when she injured her knee and had to stop.  Our fingers are crossed for a speedy recovery.  Annie opened up her vault season by once again getting over the physical (and lately mental) barrier of 10'6".  With that now in the rearview mirror, Annie can look to new heights to conquer.  Annie also placed 2nd in both hurdle races.  Michelle Brackett showed great improvement in the vault with a 2nd place clearance of 8'0" tying her personal best.  Also placing 2nd was Emily Adams in the 100m dash (13.82).  The 4x4 relay team of Robben, Adams, Kaley Myers, and Alli Meyers brought home 3rd with a time of 4:27.  Also scoring for the Wildcats were Alecia Littleton (shot and discus), Myers (HJ and 300 hurdles), Erin Hotopp (LJ), the 4x800 relay (Meyers with a great opening leg, Hannah Wegman, Sara Milner, and Michelle Woelfel), Brackett (100m hurdles), Wegman (3200m run), and Jo Hirlinger (3200m run).

The boys had a solid meet placing 4th behind some tough competition.  Dillon Meyers picked up 1st in the long jump and he started right where he left off last year with a jump of 20'1".  Ed Lehrter also opened up well in the vault with a clearance of 11'6" and a 2nd place finish (much better than his opener last year).  Also placing 2nd were Adam Schneider in the shot put and the 4x100m relay team of Meyers, David Hayes, Randy Doss, and Tyler Elrod.  The relay team ran an impressive early time of 44.79.  Picking up 3rd place finishes were Doss in the 100m dash (11.35) and the 4x200 relay of Hayes, Lehrter, Tyler Elrod, and Gage Ivey.  Also scoring points for the boys were Brandon Robinson (shot), Elrod (LJ), Meyers (100/200m dashes), Bobby Sherman (1600/3200m run), Dan Bell (3200m run), and both the 4x400 (Doss, Elrod, Lehrter, Stef Abt) and 4x800m relays (Abt, Alex Van Luit, Chase Davis, and Kurghan Horn).

The season is young....there's still lots more work to be done!


3/21 - Senior Brittany Wilson-Farley and junior Annie Robben made the LONG drive to the University of Akron to compete in the OAT&CCC State Indoor Track & Field Championships.  It turned out to be well worth the trip as both athletes came home with medals and combined for a 12th place team finish.  Brittany won the State Championship in the shot put with an amazing toss of 44' 10" which ranks her in the top 15 in the nation.  Brittany served noticed to the rest of the field that she was the person to beat as she was the first athlete to compete and opened up with a toss of 43'.  Once into the finals, Brittany extended her advantage in the finals where she made a great save on her biggest throw.  Brittany's dominance can be seen by looking at her next closest competitor:  2nd place was a full 6' behind her best mark.  At the pole vault pit, Annie Robben came away with an excellent 4th place finish.  This is a great reward for all of the hard work Annie has put in this winter.  Annie opened up with 2 good vaults over 9' and 9'6" but then ran into some trouble at 10'.  With the pressure of 2 previous misses on, Annie came through on her 3rd attempt and vaulted herself into 4th.  Great job to both girls on an excellent day!


3/7 - Congratulations to senior Brittany Wilson who won the shot put at the Ohio State High School Indoor Meet.  Brittany tossed a personal best of 41' 10.25" and bested the rest of the field of 70 individuals by 3 feet.  Brittany is well on her way to an outstanding season.  Not to be outdone, junior Annie Robben placed 2nd (on misses) in the vault with a mark of 10' 0".  While the mark was not what Annie wanted, she had a week filled with some of the best vaults of her career and is looking at making big gains very soon.  A small distance crew also traveled to OSU and had a very successful meet.  Hannah Wegman dropped 15 seconds from her 1600m time, Bobby Sherman ran two impressive races (also dropping time), and frosh Tony Smith opened with a great 1600m time of 5:15.  Complete results can be found in the RESULTS section on the website.

 


2/21 - Five Harrison athletes traveled to the prestigious University of Kentucky High School Invitational in Lexington to compete against some of the nation's best.  Every year this meet attracts some of the top track and field athletes from around the region and this year was no exception as competitors from 16 states converged on UK.  Our own athletes proved that they belonged against the top flight competition as 3 of them placed at the meet and 1 came out on top.  Newcomer Brittany Wilson placed 1st in the shot put with a heave of 39' 7.25".  This was an improvement of over 4 feet for Brittany when compared to her marks at the same meet last year and put her just behind her own personal best at this early stage in the season.  Not to be outdone, Kim Rosen placed 7th in the same event (32' 7.75") and showed that this senior duo will be dangerous in the throwing events this year.  Annie Robben also placed 7th in the pole vault with a mark of 10' 0".  Some minor adjustments will soon put Annie well over this mark.   Alecia Littleton also competed at the meet.  Her hard work in the weight room paid off with 2 marks over her previous best with 29' 7.25" being the best.  It's always good to open the year with a personal best.  On the boy's side, Adam Schneider also came out with solid marks in the shot put with a 42' 2.75" heave.  Great job to all!


We had only one athlete compete in the first indoor meet of the 2009 season at Cedarville University, but she put on quite a show.  Annie Robben, after only 3 practice sessions on a landing pit, not only won the pole vault, but she also broke her previous best mark by clearing 10' 9".  Getting a PR at your first meet of the year with little practice doesn't happen very often, but clearing this high mark this early does bode well for the season.  It is also a testament to all of the hard work Annie has put in thus far.  Annie followed up this performance with a 7th place finish in the 800m run (her first time running this since 7th grade!).  Great job Annie!
 


Preparations will start for the 2009 track and field season on January 5, 2009 (the first day back after the Holiday Break).  Practices are voluntary and will involve basic conditioning workouts and lifting weights.  All are welcome to attend.  For those interested in getting some competition, we will likely participate in 3-5 indoor track meets at various colleges and universities throughout the winter leading up to the outdoor season.  In the past we have traveled to the University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, The Ohio State University, University of Findlay, and Cedarville University. Athletes are NOT required to compete at the indoor meets.  It is only for those that choose to.  The main purpose of the "indoor season" is to get in shape for the outdoor season.  Remember that the sooner you start, the better shape you'll be in when it comes time to compete in the spring.  See Coach Menze if you have any questions about indoor track/conditioning.