This has been a busy week, so this post is (again) a few days after the fact… but I have posted a lot of great pictures from the meet. All of the great photography you are seeing on the blog this season has been taken by some of the coaches and athletes using a new Digital SLR camera that we purchased for the team this year. The pictures taken at the BIG EAST meet were taken by junior high jumper Erynn James on Saturday and by senior pole vaulter Liz Wilkie on Sunday.
The BIG EAST, over the last couple of years, has become one of the truly elite conferences. It is deep in every event… not just the mid and long distances. We took some solace in the fact that we had numerous PRs and several place, or improve upon their place on the top-ten lists, but we were also frustrated in several events by performing at a level that was among the best in MU history but still not even placing!
One case in point would be Jayne Grebinski. Her time of 9:40.19 in the 3000 is #3 on the all-time list, yet it was only good enough for 10th place.
In other instances performances that were basically the same as last year placed significantly lower. Our women’s 4x800 team ran about 7-tenths slower than last year’s 3rd place team. This year we placed 7th.
That being said we are not planning on moping around about these challenges. Challenges are at the heart of athletics. We as coaches will continue to work hard recruiting student-athlete that can compete to win in the BIG EAST and continue to develop those on currently on the team to reaching new heights within themselves.
A prime example of a group reaching new heights within themselves was our men's 4x800m Relay. Their time of 7:37.06 was the fastest men's 4x8 in 27 years. That team featured 2 seniors who had disappointing performances in open events and 2 freshman who were really unknown quantities. The put together a great team that we are very excited about going into the outdoor season.
Here are a few pictures and the details....
Senior Co-Captain Jessi Ehlen placed 5th in the weight throw with a toss of 57-7. The 4 that placed ahead of Jessi are 4 of the top 14 in the country.
Senior Co-Captain Kyle Saginus ended his MU track career in style by anchoring the Distance Medley Relay with a a PR 1600m split of 4:14.8. Kyle has only indoor eligibility remaining for the 2009 season.
Senior Co-Captain Liz Wilkie placed 10th with at jump of 11-3.75. Liz just grazed the bar on her "would-have-been PR" 1st attempt at 11-9.75
Junior Anna Weber ran a PR 9:58.22 in the 3000m.
Redshirt junior Co-Captain Sarah Verdoliva ran the 800m, the 800m leg of the Distance Medley Relay, and the 4x800m Relay. She failed to advance to the final after making a tactical error in a slower section of the 800m running 2:16.04. She redeemed herself nicely by running a 2:14.7 split in the DMR and led off the 4x800 with a sizzling 2:13.8.
Junior Co-Captain Rachel Thiel competed in only her 2nd indoor meet of the season after missing much of the fall and indoor season recovering from surgery.
Freshman Billy Schlottke ran a lifetime best 1:54.7 split on the 2nd leg of the 4x800m relay.
Junior Dani Owen ran 2:58.82 in the prelims of the 1000m. That time was 0.01 off her PR. Dani came back to run 2:15.5 as the 3rd leg of the 4x800m relay.
Junior Michael O'Brien ran the prelims of the 500m in 1:05.50 and came back to split 49.2 on a key 3rd leg of the 4x400m Relay. 
Sophomore Olivia Johnson narrowly miss qualifying for the final of the 1000m running a PR 2:54.64, a time good enough for 4th on the all-time list. Olivia also anchored the Distance Medley Relay to a 6th place finish with a split of 5:00.5 as well as anchored the 4x800m relay to a 7th place finish with a split of 2:16.2.
Senior Mark Kopecki ran 4:11.85 in the mile to qualify for the final. That time was a PR and placed him #9 on the all-time list. Mark placed 12th in the final with a time of 4:16.32. He came back to lead off the 4x800m relay with a split of 1:53.8.
Freshman Albojay Deacon competed in the Triple Jump and fouled all three prelim attempts.
Junior Katlin Millin ran the 800m and the 4x800m relay. She ran a disappointing 2:19.00 in the open, but followed it up with key 2nd leg carry of 2:14.0 in the 4x800.
Senior Mike Heim threw 52-8 to place 11th in the weight throw.
Senior Eric Meissner, a favorite to make the 800m final, got caught up in traffic in a slow and tactical 800m prelim. His time of 1:55.91 was not enough to advance. Eric came back to run a 1:55.3 800m leg of the Distance Medley Relay and a 1:53.6 anchor leg on the 6th place 4x800m relay. The 4x800 time of 7:37.06 was the fastest men's 4x800 in 27 years.
Frehman Stephanie Grant ran the 400m leg of the Distance Medley Relay. Stephanie is the daughter of former MU 800m star Jeff Grant.
Junior Jayne Grebinski ran a PR 9:40.19 in the 3000m. The time was good enough for 4th on the all-time list, but only good enough for 10th place in the race. Jayne also leg off the Distance Medley Relay with a 3:35.9 1200m split.
Sophomore Alyssa Davis placed 15th in the triple jump with a mark of 37-3.75.
Junior Kelly Corcoran threw a PR in the weight throw with a mark of 51-11.5. That placed her 11th in the competition. Kelly also threw the shot put 42-4.25 placing 16th.
Freshman Blake Johnson showed signs of great things to come by leading off the Distance Medley Relay with a 1200m split of 3:02.6 He came back to run a 1:54.7 3rd leg on the 4x800m Relay.
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