Season Preview: Women's Indoor Track & Field looks for improvement in 2013
By: Andrew Korba
The 2012 track & field seasons were a little frustrating for the Ohio Northern women's track & field teams, but improvement was shown.
Unlike recent OAC finishes, Northern finished fifth at the indoor conference meet and seventh at the outdoor OAC championships.
"We had some struggles last season. But we return a lot of great runners this season and will be improved."
The Polar Bears break down like this for the 2013 campaign.
Distance/Mid-Distance
Maus welcomes back three time All-American Alison Steinbrunner.
She owns a handful of school records and finished in third place at the Outdoor NCAA Championships in the 10k and fourth place in the indoor 5,000 run.
Senior Lydia Weaver also returns after posting a solid 2012 cross country season.
Weaver owns the ONU school record in the 1,500 run and is also part of the record holding DMR team.
Seniors Casey Adamick, Katie Horton and Brittany Stanek, junior Laura Avino and sophomore Shayla Siefker will also add depth to the distance runners, as will a wealth of freshman.
Sprints
Senior Jordan Buchanan will lead a youthful group of sprinters and hurdlers.
Buchanan improved many of her personal best times in the 2012 season, and will look to do the same this season.
Junior Sarah Meyer and sophomores Shannon Hageman and Gabrielle Metzner all saw significant action last season.
Meyer and Hageman both focus on long sprints, while Metzner will participate in short sprints and hurdles.
A wealth of incoming freshman will also look to contribute in the sprinting department.
Field
Northern will rely on two junior throwers to carry them through the season.
Juniors Raven McLure and Hannah Livengood all showed improvement last season and will look to have more success in the upcoming season.
While not as deep as other areas, the jumps department should be pretty solid for ONU this coming season.
Senior Vicki Moga was All-OAC in the high jump in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Freshman Julie Amos and freshman Gina Grandillo will also look to contribute in the jumps department.
In pole vault, sophomore Sarah Ballmer will be the leader of the young group.
Ballmer saw action last year and posted solid results in her first collegiate season.
Freshman Gabrielle Heck will also look to contribute in the pole vault.
"We are definitely more balanced across the board then we have been in years past," Maus added. " We will train hard and look to improve our spots in both OAC Championships."
Schedule
Both teams will open their indoor seasons in January 18 at the Northwest Ohio meet in Findlay.
The following week, both teams will get their first taste of OAC competition at the OAC Split Meet.
February will feature the annual Joe Banks Invitational at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears will also compete at the always tough All-Ohio Championships on February 9.
ONU will then return home to host the OAC Indoor Championships on February 22-23.
The indoor season comes to a conclusion on March 8 and 9 with the NCAA Championships in Naperville, Ill.
The outdoor season begins on March 16 at the Muskingum Duals.
Northern then travels to the Washington & Lee Carnival the following weekend and then will compete in the OAC Split Meet at Wilmington on March 29.
The Polar Bears will have a busy April, participating in the Marv Frye Invitational at Ohio Wesleyan, followed by the All-Ohio Championships and the Kenyon Invitational.
April concludes with the OAC Outdoor Championships on April 26 and 27 at Mount Union.
The outdoor season will come to a close on May 23-25 with the NCAA Championshipa in LaCrosse, Wis.
"Our schedule this season will definitely challenge both teams this season," said Maus. "We are a young group and we want to give everyone some good competition early on so they know what they have to go up against all season."