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Three seems to be the lucky number for Ohio State men’s track coach Robert Gary.
On Sunday, his Buckeyes finished third in the outdoor Big Ten Track and Field Championships at the University of Illinois, led by senior David Ebersole in the hammer throw and freshman Bryan Bunnell in the javelin.
The third-place finish comes on the heels of third-place finishes for Gary’s cross country and indoor track teams this year, the first time since 1941 the Buckeyes have finished in the top three at each of these conference championships.
“It’s been our goal going into the year to finish in the top three,” said junior distance runner Jeff See. “We knew we could do it.”
OSU finished behind Michigan and Wisconsin, in first and second place respectively.
Despite an exceptional performance this year, the Buckeyes finished a disappointing ninth at the outdoor championship last year.
The team experienced such improvement because the members have done more team building this season, including a dual meet against Michigan, Gary said.
“The guys compete for each other now,” Gary said. “That’s the difference between getting third and getting, say, fifth.”
Ebersole said he felt the support of his team as he became the Big Ten champion in the hammer throw, with a toss of 211-8.
“It was really exciting,” Ebersole said. “I got a personal best. The guys were right there and they were going crazy.”
Bunnell also won a Big Ten title of his own, in the javelin with a toss of 219-1.
Senior Anthony Cole was a Big Ten runner-up in the 100-meter dash (10.30 seconds), falling to Minnesota’s Ibrahim Kabia by 0.01 seconds. He also finished second in the 200-meter dash (20.93) and was an integral member of the 400-meter relay, which finished third with a time of 40.88.
“The team performed absolutely incredible,” See said.
See finished second in the 1500-meter run, with a time of 4 minutes 4.3 seconds. He finished behind Penn State’s Sam Borchers (4:03.96).
“I wasn’t too thrilled with that finish,” See said. “I would definitely have liked to win. I took the lead with about 300 meters to go and then lost it in the last 10.”
Despite the disappointment, See said he hopes to bounce back at the NCAA regional meet.
“I want to position myself into top three at regionals,” See said. “And I hope to make it to nationals. It’s the championships, anything can happen.”
The Buckeyes head to the NCAA Mideast Regionals in Fayetteville, Ark. May 30 to June 1. The team is ready for the competition, Gary said.
“We got a lot of guys that qualified this season. There’s 16 total,” he said. “Last year around this time the guys were starting to run of out gas. This year, they are all pretty excited for it.”
Megan Savage can be reached at [email protected].
