April 23, 2000

Sixteen teams compete in the Bill Krause Relays

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

After a cool, misty day the sun finally decided to make an appearance at Frost-Kalnow Stadium just as the final event of the Bill Krause Relays was ready to start.

It was a late entrance but a fitting one at that. Mr. Sunshine provided the perfect spotlight for the Columbian boys track team, which won its own relays for the first time since 1983.

The Tornadoes totaled 86 points to outdistance a competitive field at the Krause Relays. That put them just ahead of Whitmer (76 1/2), Gahanna Lincoln (76), Perkins (67) and Toledo Central Catholic (65).

Columbian won three events, finished second in three others, third in three more, and Dan Moyer had a hand in three placements to aid the TC victory.

Columbian's girls also had a big day, finishing fourth with 52 points. Gahanna Lincoln (83) finished first ahead of Dublin Coffman (79 1/2), Worthington Kilbourne (62), TC and Anthony Wayne (48).

Sixteen teams competed on both the boys' and girls' sides.

"We talked about this on Monday at practice," said Craig Snyder, Columbian's first-year coach. "We were happy with what we did at Clyde, but the next thing we talked about was that it was about time we won the Krause Relays. It's been a while since that happened. The kids took that to heart, and they showed up today and just got the job done."

Moyer turned in a big day for the Tornadoes, with legs in the 4 x 800 (Ryan Hike, Eric Hall, Drew Hanley), which won in 8:03.9, and the distance medley team (Hanley, Hinke, Aaron Swope), which won in 11:03.4.

Moyer also took an individual third, finishing the 1600 in 4:38.9.

The Tornadoes' other first came from the high jump team of Adam Powers, Jason Gottfried and Josh Paull, who combined to leap 17-11, a full six inches better than second place Hilliard Davidson.

The field events proved to be a team strength on this day. Columbian got seconds from its long jump team (Chris Brooks, Tony Livoti, Todd Focht), which jumped 58-1 3/4 and the pole vault team (Dan Picciuto, Richie Martin, Mitch Stearns), which combined for 37-0.

Columbian's other second place finish was an individual effort from Brett Krupp, who finished the 200 in 22.9. Krupp also finished third in the 100 (11.5) and teamed with Focht, Brooks and Jeremiah Johnson to finish third in the 4 x 100 relay.

That gave Columbian nine placements in a field comprised mostly of Division I teams, and solid ones at that.

"When you look at times across the state, this has to be one of the better relays in Ohio," Snyder said. "We get online, look at newspapers, and we're always seeing fast times by Worthington Kilbourne athletes, by Dublin Coffman and by Toledo Whitmer. So we knew were in for quite a fight today, but we thought we had a real shot at winning this."

So if the the nine top-three placements laid the foundation for the victory, the two fourths, one fifth and four sixth-place finishes solidified it.

Hall sped to a 2:04.5 in the 800 to take fourth, as did the shuttle hurdle team of Brian Bilger, Paull, Powers and Steve Lee, in 1:04.9. The fifth-place finish came from the 4 x 400 relay team of Hall, Hinke, Hanley and Greg Hoke who finished in 3:33.3.

Grabbing individual sixths were Powers in the 110 hurdles (17.2) and Paull in the 300 hurdles (42.6). The discus team of Matt Thompson, Brooks and Tony DeMonte, who threw a combined 342-8, and the sprint medley team of Focht, Brooks, Johnson and Justin Ranker, who finished in 1:40.1, also finished sixth.

Seneca East's boys also competed and finished with 10 points to place 12th as a team. The Tiger sprint medley team finished third in 1:38.9, while the 4 x 200 relay team took fourth in 1:34.6.

On the girls' side, Columbian was led by the shuttle hurdle team of Erica Molineaux, Erin Moore, Emily Bowen and Jenni Ziegler, who set a meet and school record of 1:06.9. The old record was 1:08.1

The Tornadoes also got a first from the discus team of Alex Miller, Jess Crerar and Bridget Focht, who combined to throw 272-0.

"We've had a lot of good hurdlers, and this past week we hit the shuttle hurdles real hard," Columbian coach Amy Cooper said. "We went through three complete sets on Thursday and even got down to a 1:05.5. Coming into today we only had the third fastest time (among the schools invited to the meet), but we were in the same heat with the two teams ahead of us, and I thought 'If you could just go out and beat them...' And they did."

Columbian's girls got one third-place finish and a pair of fourths.

The shot put team of Miller, Stephanie Thacker and Crerar threw 91-4 1/2 to take third, the 4 x 800 team of Carly Bowers, Kelly Taylor, Amy Swope and Kathy Scott finished in 10:06.1 to take fourth. Emily Bowen posted an individual fourth in the 300 hurdles (50.0).

Scott also finished fifth in the 1600 (5:41.3), as did the high jump team of Angie Wolfe, Bowen and Kate Osborne (14-0) and the 4 x 100 team of Whitney Nahm, Taylor, Erin Conti and Amber Tyree (52.8).

The Tornadoes got a pair of individual sixths with Tyree in the 200 (27.6) and Bowers in the 3200 (12:31.3). The 4 x 200 team of Nahm, Bowen, Conti and Tyree (1:51.8) and the 4 x 400 team of Nahm, Osborne, Scott and Taylor (4:20.7) also finished sixth.

Seneca East's girls got placements in seven events to finish with 25 points, good for 12th place.

The Tigers' top placement came from the 4 x 800 relay team which finished in 9:59.

Seneca East's top individual was Kristen Elmlinger, who took third in the 800 in 2:27. Jennifer Riddlebaugh finished fourth in the 3200 in 12:10.5 and Sarah Reiter took sixth in the 400 in 1:01.5.

The Tigers got sixths from their 4 x 1600 team (23:18.9), the distance medley team (13:53.9 and the 4 x 400 team (4:20.3).

"We really look forward to this meet," said Dick Verhoff, coach of the Division III Tiger girls. "We know we're going to have a tough time competing, but I thought we had some great individual performances. Sarah Reiter ran her best of the season, Kristen Elmlinger did a great job and Jennifer Riddlebaugh placed in the 3200. And the 4 x 800 team broke 10 minutes, and it's the first time they've done that this year."