By Jordan Hill, sports information assistant

Saturday, April 7th was a day of speed and strength as the Bluffton men's and women's track and field team took advantage of the warm weather and still breeze. Competing at the Marv Frye Invitational, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University, the track and field team set a combined 27 personal records.

Standing out for Bluffton were three freshmen, Jenna Strauss (Bridgeport), Eric Dameron (Galion), and Rob Cook (Convoy/Crestview), as they each had three personal bests for the day.

Strauss took a half second off in the 100m dash with a time 14.11, almost a full second off in the 200m dash with a time of 29.71, and qualified for the HCAC Championships in the 100m hurdles with a time of 17.35. She also tied her personal best in the long jump with a mark of 15'6. Dameron ran lifetime bests in the 200 (24.68), the 400 (55.43) and the long jump (17'9). Cook had lifetime bests in the throwing events as he threw a personal record in the hammer (115'0), shot put (36.5'0) and in the javelin (124'7).

Sophomore Kayla Mullenhour (Delphos/Jefferson) ran a personal best and HCAC qualifier in the 100m hurdles with a time of 17.42 and came back with an impressive 63.74 in the open 400 for a lifetime best by five seconds.

Sophomore Brandi Dominique (Wauseon) had a breakthrough performance in the 800 meters, running a lifetime best of 2:22.91, easily qualifying for HCAC Championships and All-Ohio while barely missing the school record by 0:00.5 seconds. She placed 5th overall.

In the men's 200m dash, two other Bluffton freshmen joined Dameron and ran personal bests as Travaun Reaves (Berkley, Mich.) ran 24.80 and Jordan Wegner (Mishawaka, Ind.) ran 28.35. Wegner also had a personal best in the 400m dash with a time of 64.08. He was joined by freshman Aaron Brown (Mechanicsburg) and junior Jeremy Kidder (New Carlisle/Tecumseh), who also had personal best times of 55.20 (Brown) and 59.78 (Kidder).

The distance men also had a chance to show off their speed. Senior Andy Chaffee (Clarkston, Mich.) established a pair of personal records in the 1500 (4:19.11) and the 800 (2:08.25). Freshman Ryan Schadewald (Lima/Bath) also ran lifetime bests in the 1500 (4:26.10) and 800 (2:10.93) and was joined by freshman teammate Mike Gray (Ulysses, Penn./Northern Potter) who finished in 4:54.22 (1500) and 2:20.72 for 800 meters, both personal bests.

The sunny weather also favored the field event athletes. Reaves jumped a personal best in the long jump with a mark of 17'8 and also cleared 6'0 in the high jump to place 5th overall. Mullenhour took 7th in the women's high jump with a leap of 4'6.

The throwers rounded out the day for Bluffton as senior Bryan Heckathorn (Hartville/Lake) threw a lifetime best in the hammer (119'0) while sophomore Julie Court (Galion) threw a lifetime best in the shot put (30'11.75). Senior Megan Neal (Arlington) threw a lifetime best in the discus (92'7), placed 2nd in the hammer (155'9) and took 4th in the javelin (100'2).

Select athletes from the track and field team will compete again on April 14, 2012, at the DIII All-Ohio Championship based on qualifying marks and performances throughout the outdoor season. The meet will be hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University. The competing field will be announced this coming week.