Women Take Second, Men Third At Cardinal Invitational

The Heidelberg College track and field team, under the guidance of Kevin Lucas, competed at the Cardinal Invitational on Saturday hosted by Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. The women's team finished second, while the men took third in the final standings.

Host Otterbein claimed the women's team championship with 164 points followed by Heidelberg with 118 points. On the men's side Mount Union (223.5) won the team title followed by Otterbein (108) and Heidelberg (88.5).

Senior Nikki Jones (Fremont, Ohio / Hopewell Loudon) led the way for the women's team with a first place finish in the high jump (5'2") and a third place finish in the 300-meter dash (44.72). Jones also teamed up with Jamie Depinet (New Riegel, Ohio / New Reigel), Jessica Smith (Lorain, Ohio / Admiral King) and Angela Zellner (Twinsburg, Ohio / Twinsburg) to claim the 4x200-meter relay championship in a time of 1:49.25.

Depinet was also victorious in the 500-meter run in a time of 1:20.80, while Kelsey Elliott (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) and Morgan Magers (Green Springs, Ohio / Old Fort) finished first and second in the 800-run, respectively. Elliott crossed the finish line in 2:33.03 and was followed closely by Magers with a time of 2:34.50.

Tabitha Grim (Sullivan, Ohio / Black River) and Rachel Hoover (South Euclid, Ohio / Brush) led the women's distance crew on the day. Grim took third in the 1,000-meter run (3:24.50) and Hoover finished third in the 5,000-meter run (20:32.36).

Adding depth in the middle distance and sprints was Zellner with a third in the 500-meter run (1:23.64) and Jaimee Olmstead (Stryker, Ohio / Stryker) in the 400-meter dash with a fourth (1:07.19). Helping Jones in the field events was Jessica Peters (DeGraff, Ohio / Indian Lake) and Special Lane (Xenia, Ohio / Xenia) with a third (36'00.25") and fourth (32'8.5"), respectively.

The men's team got things going early with a strong showing in the field events led by Julius Higginbotham’s (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) long jump championship with a jump of 22"2.25". Higginbotham, a freshman, has claimed the long jump championship in each of the last two outings for the Berg. Adding depth in the field events was a fifth place finish by Ken Morris (Rockbridge, Ohio / Logan Elm) in the high jump. Morris cleared 5'10".

The middle distance crew paced the men's team through its running events at the invitational. Cory Beebe (Medina, Ohio / Cloverleaf) won the 500-meter run in a time of 1:07.23, while Mark Childs (New-Albany, Ohio / New Albany) and Reed Wolverton (Van Wert, Ohio / Van Wert) took third (2:02.16) and fourth (2:03.56), respectively, in the 800-meter run and Jake Lemon (Oak Harbor, Ohio / Oak Harbor) finished fifth in the mile run in a time of 4:43.64.

In the distance events, Dan Simpson (Leetonia, Ohio / Leetonia) took second in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 15:23.10 followed by Scott Lasch (Huron, Ohio / Huron) in third (15:30.30).

Rounding out top-five finishers for the men's team was Eric Hoogeveen (Westerville, Ohio / North) with a fifth in the 1,000-meter run (2:42.61) and Brandon Zuchowski (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) with a third in the 400-meter dash (52.89).