Men first, women second at Ohio meet

A cold front heading through Ohio couldn’t prevent the Flashes from getting hot.

On the strength of six first-place finishes, the Kent State men’s track team finished in a first-place tie with host Ohio at the Ohio Invitational Friday and Saturday. Both teams scored 151 points. The women’s team finished second, scoring 109 points. Several of the events Saturday afternoon had to be canceled because of inclement weather.

“The windy, snowy conditions affected our race, especially our warm-up,” sophomore Ryan Schroeder said.

Schroeder, who competed in the 1,500 meters, said the weather changed runners’ approaches to doing well.

“It was cold and windy at the start,” he said. “For the first three laps in yesterday’s race, everyone ran slow and turned it on the last three-quarters of a lap.”

Junior Bouke Onstenk won the 1,500 meters, and Schroeder placed second. The men dominated the field events, finishing 1-2-3 in the hammer throw.

Freshman Jaroslaw Zakrzewski won the event with a throw of 189-0 while sophomore Andy Nicholas and senior Tom Densevich placed second and third, respectively. Sophomore John Harper won the discus with a personal best 163-7 throw while junior Brent Shelby won the shot put and placed second in the discus.

The women took six first-place finishes. Junior Lauren Richard captured the 100 meters in 13.19 seconds. Senior Erin Anderson placed first in the 800 meters while junior Dominika Stokowska won the 400 meters with a 57.87 second clocking. Senior Julie Ward won her second straight javelin throw with a throw of 148-5.

“The weather didn’t affect us much because we were prepared,” thrower Donielle Swany said. “We gain experience throwing outside while back at Kent. This prepares us for meets with this weekend’s weather conditions.”

Contact track and field reporter Josh Echt at [email protected].