On March 30, the Ohio State men’s track and field team sent four of its best distance runners to compete at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. The meet is an early chance for all athletes, especially distance runners, to record great times and possibly qualify for NCAA regionals.
“The conditions were perfect,” said OSU coach Robert Gary. “It was our best season opener ever.”
According to OSU Department of Athletics spokesman Jeff Symonds, the meet produced more than 300 NCAA regional qualifying marks.
Senior Glenn Collins led the way with a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He ran a personal record of nine minutes, 13.53 seconds and was only six seconds away from an NCAA qualifying time.
Freshman phenomFreshman Chad Balyo’s performance in the 5,000-meter run stood out to Gary.
“It surprised me that he was able to run that fast,” Gary said. “Four to five weeks from now he should be able to get a really good time.”
Balyo ran a time of 14:23.35 in just his third college 5K. The NCAA qualifying mark is 11 seconds away at 14:12.
Speedy Ealy Junior John Ealy also ran well in the 5K, finishing in 14:19.88 to record his best time in two years. Ealy qualified for the NCAA regional meet as a freshman and is looking to get back there this season.
Senior Alex Bailey was the fourth OSU runner at the meet, finishing the 5K in 14:37.80.
Outdoor opener March 23 marked the start of the outdoor season for OSU, as they competed at the Arizona State Invitational in Tempe. High jumper Marios Iacovou placed second with a jump of 6-feet-8 and three-fourths inches to record the best Buckeye finish. Iacovou, a junior from Cyprus, has been the team’s top high jumper the past three years and holds the No. 2 all-time jump in OSU history at 7-feet-2 and-a-half inches.
Rest and relaxation Those runners who did not compete at Stanford received the weekend off. The coaches want to give them a little rest because they will not get another weekend off until the season is over. The four who did compete will have Saturday off, while the rest of the men’s track and field team travels to Bloomington for the Indiana Relays.
“We’re going to start trying to rattle off some good times and get some regional qualifiers,” Gary said. “Our focus is to get into the top four at the Big Ten Championships. We’ve got a great recruiting class coming in, and if we can move up a few spots, we’ll be in a position to win a title next year.”
Danny Unsdorfer can be reached at [email protected].
