Sports
Throwers Do Heavy Lifting For Ohio
By: Joe Cooke
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With the outdoor season underway, the Ohio Bobcats will need a spark to compete with their opponents, and the weight-throwing women have given Ohio that spark this year.
Janiece Rose and Donyelle Brown will need to maintain and build upon their success from the indoor season in order to give the Bobcats the leverage needed to stay afloat with the forces sharing the track with them, especially from late April through June when the combination of outdoor championships and nationally ranked teams appear on the radar screen for Ohio.
For the Green and White, experience correlates with success, especially in regards to the dominance of the senior duo of Rose and Brown. Dominance in the ring has been led by Rose so far. Since the indoor season began, she’s pulled six first-place finishes averaging around 16-17 meters per throw. She set a personal best at the MAC Indoor Championship with a throw of 18.57 meters. Brown has given additional support, also averaging 16-17 meters, and earning three finishes above fifth place, with a personal high-mark of 18.30 meters coming from the MAC Indoor.
Saturday’s Cherry Blossom Invite win saw Rose and Brown take first place finishes with some of their best throws. Rose reached a career best in the shot put with a 13.99 meter throw. Brown’s 51.41 meter mark in the hammer throw gave her the top spot.
Watching the consistency of the upperclassmen has allowed underclassmen, like sophomore Emma Ryan and freshman Jordan Porter to grow in their college throwing careers. Ryan has earned three second place finishes, one third place finish, and a seventh and ninth place finish. Porter has started her career off with consistency usually throwing around 14.68 meters, placing bronze three times and earning her first gold with a toss of 14.04 meters at the Wake Forest Open.
Ohio Bobcats participants in field events such as high jump and long jump have given an extra amount of leverage to the throwers as well. Olivia Mayfield and Tajah Smith have combined for seven finishes above fifth place in long jump, while Taylor Smith has earned four top five finishes in high jump.
According to Rose, her success can be described as half mental and half physical.
“Staying mentally in the right mindset is the biggest thing right now,” Rose said. “I’m actually trying not to change anything at all. I’m just going in there and trying to beat my own marks and if I do that I should be in good shape.”
As the season moves on for the ‘Cats, the throwers will look to put up big numbers and give the track athletes some cushion in competition. The Bobcats’ next test comes in the All-Ohio Championships in Oxford, Ohio. The two-day event starts on Friday.