WOOSTER, Ohio – Franciscan track & field showed its depth, particularly on the men's side, at the Wooster Invitational where the Barons finished fifth out of nine schools while the Lady Barons finished eleventh.
The team was missing some of its top runners from both the men's and women's squads, making the meet an uphill battle when combined with the freezing temperatures of the day.
"Despite the elements and us battling a lot of injuries and a lot of illness, it went really well," head coach Rob Copeland said. "It was just one of those days where you have to gut through everything and tough it out. We did a good job of that."
The men's team once again received crucial points from field events with two throwers, freshman Brad Montgomery and junior Brian Tullier placing in their events. The two finished second and third respectively in the shotput with distances of 44.7m and 40.7m with Montgomery also taking second in the discus with a throw of 124.11m.
"You can always hang your hat on those two. They are as consistent of performers as we have," Copeland said of his throwers. "It is a nice luxury to be that deep in our field events."
The Barons also saw placements from a number of sprinters, an area Copeland said he was hoping to strengthen this season. Without the team's top 100 m sprinter, the group still looked like a strong. Two freshman, James Downs and Carlo Fabian, finished in second and fourth in the 400m with times of 55.5 and 58.3. Downs also took fourth in the 200m with a time of 24.4.
"The field events and sprinters really paced us today which is refreshing because we've always been so reliant on our distance team," Copeland said.
On the women's side it was the mid-distance runners who had the strongest performances, particularly in the 1500m. In that event freshman Deirdre Coyle finished in eighth place with a time of 5:29 while senior Leah Kaisler set a new personal record and won her heat with a time of 5:37.
Copeland said he was pleased with how the women's team responded to being low in numbers, especially without some of their best performers due to injuries and illness.
"Track is so interesting to coach because it's a team effort but its dependent on individual performances. You look out there and realized that some important pieces of the puzzle are missing, but you have to preach 'you run your race,'" Copeland said. "We've been able to do that. We're a pretty mentally tough team."
Franciscan will spend the next week trying to heal and recover as they prepare for their next meet, the Bethany College Invite, on April 4.
