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Women's Team Makes Final Day Push for Fifth Place at Big Ten Meet, Men Finish Eighth

Stringer successfully defends women's high jump title
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Jessica Stringer cleared 5 feet, 10 inches to win the Big Ten women's high jump.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State men's and women's track and field teams competed in the final day of the 2006 Big Ten Outdoor Championships Sunday at Michigan State's Ralph Young Facility in East Lansing, Mich. Jessica Stringer helped the women's team make a strong push in the final standings with a second-consecutive conference title in the high jump.
The Buckeye women's squad, in eighth after Saturday, used several high-scoring performances Sunday to place fifth with 66 team points. The men's team, which led the Big Ten standings after events concluded Friday, slipped to third place Saturday and fell further Sunday, winding up in eighth place with a team score of 59. Wisconsin claimed its third consecutive men's team title with a total of 161.5, while Minnesota accumulated 153.5 for the women's team crown.
Stringer, a junior from Williamsburg, Ind., successfully defended her 2005 Big Ten high jump championship by clearing 5 feet, 10 inches. The league title is Stringer's third of her career. She also claimed the 2006 indoor high jump crown earlier this year.
The Buckeyes also benefited from several strong efforts in the sprint and relay events. Junior Jenna Harris, the 2005 Big Ten 100-meter champion, coupled a second-place finish in the 200m with a third-place time in the 100m. Harris clocked a 23.68 in the 200m after posting an 11.63 in the 100m. Both of her times served as NCAA Mideast Regional qualifiers. Freshman Ayrizanna Favours added a second-place and career-best mark of 53.21 in the 400m dash.
Both Favours and Harris combined to lead the women's relays teams to third-place scores in the 4x100m and 4x400m events. Harris ran the lead leg of the season-best and regional qualifying 4x400m mark of 3:40.21. Favours was responsible for the lead leg of the 4x100m, which timed a season-best 45.88. <!-- STORY AD BEGINS HERE -->
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<!-- STORY AD ENDS HERE --> Buckeyes also scored individually in the field events. Senior Keturah Lofton tallied team points in her third event Sunday with an eighth-place distance in the discus (144-3), finishing ahead of freshman Janine Zylinski, who was seventh at 144-10. Junior Veronica Vance was seventh in the triple jump (39-11 3/4).
For the men, a pair of freshman hurdlers made impressive debuts at the Big Ten meet. Matt Comer was second in the 400-meter hurdles in a career-best and regional qualifying time of 51.23. He bested classmate Elon Simms, who was third with a career-best of 51.43. Comer also helped the Buckeyes score in the 4x400m relay. Ohio State finished seventh in 3:10.51. The 4x100m team also took seventh in 41.49.
Freshman Brandon Cathcart added points for OSU in the field with a sixth-place leap in the triple jump of 50-6 3/4. Freshman throwers Pat Whalen and Pat Filipi both were eighth in their events. Whalen heaved 54-2 3/4 in the shot put and Filipi tossed a season-best 182-2 in the javelin.
Final team scores and complete results are available at www.bigten.org or http://flashresults.com/2006_Meets/outdoor/big10/.
Both the men's and women's teams are off next week to prep for the 2006 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships May 26-27 at Knoxville, Tenn.


2006 Big Ten Outdoor Championships - Team Standings
Women Points
1. Minnesota 153.50
2. Michigan 134.66
3. Penn State 115.00
4. Illinois 104.66
5. Ohio State 66.00
6. Purdue 53.33
7. Indiana 52.00
8. Iowa 49.33
9. Wisconsin 48.50
10. Michigan St. 41.00

Men Points
1. Wisconsin 161.50
2. Minnesota 121.50
3. Indiana 105.00
4. Iowa 77.00
<!--#include virtual="sport-footer.html" -->5. Michigan 69.00
5. Illinois 69.00
7. Penn State 61.00
8. Ohio State 59.00
9. Michigan St. 49.0
10. Purdue 45.00