Ohio Wesleyan University | Battling Bishop Athletics

2008 Season Preview

[ Ashley Shaffer ] Last year, the Ohio Wesleyan women's track & field team swept the North Coast Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor championships, a feat the Battling Bishops had not accomplished since 1991.

This year, Ohio Wesleyan head coach Kris Boey and the Bishops will look to do something no Ohio Wesleyan women's track & field team has done — pull off the indoor-outdoor sweep in consecutive years.

"Last year proved to be a breakthrough year for us," Boey said. "We want to work hard to remain on top of the conference and improve at the national level, and we have a tremendous group of talented women and team players who believe in the program and continue to do all the right things we've done so far."

The Bishops return a pair of former NCAC Sprinter of the Year selections in senior Ashley Shaffer (Lancaster) and sophomore Casey Ridgeway (Fredericktown).

Shaffer, who was named Sprinter/Hurdler of the Year at the NCAC indoor meet in 2005 and 2006, won the 400-meter dash and added All-NCAC honors in the high jump, long jump and triple jump at last year's indoor meet. Outdoors, she won All-America laurels in the heptathlon, took NCAC titles in the hepathlon, 400-meter dash and the triple jump, and added All-NCAC citations in the high jump and 200-meter dash.

[ Casey Ridgeway ] Ridgeway was named NCAC Sprinter/Hurdler of the Year at the 2007 outdoor meet after winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes, setting school and conference records in the latter. Indoors, she won the 200-meter dash and placed third in the 55-meter dash.

Sophomore Ashlie Britton (LeRoy/Painesville Riverside) won the NCAC title in the 55-meter hurdles and the All-Ohio title in the 400-meter hurdles, while sophomore Rowena Jones (Shutesbury, Mass./Amherst Regional) scored in the 400-meter hurdles in the NCAC outdoor meet.

Further bolstering the Bishop sprint corps is a promising group of newcomers. Freshman Lainey Kekic (Canfield/Western Reserve) qualified for the state high school meet in the 400-meter dash, while freshman Christa Cocumelli (Dublin/Bishop Watterson) was a regional finalist in high school. Freshman Tara Adams (Canton/North Canton Hoover) should contribute in the sprints and the pole vault, and freshman Justina Alvis (Nome, Alaska/Fisher (Ohio) Catholic) was part of a 1600-meter relay team that qualified for the Ohio state high school meet.

Along with Shaffer and Adams in the jumps, the Bishops return junior Jessica Merrill (Columbia Station/Columbia), who scored in the heptathlon and all 3 jumps at the NCAC outdoor meet. Sophomore Emily Washek (Erie, Pa./McDowell) and freshman Laura Packard (Mount Vernon) will contribute in the pole vault.

[ Sarah Shinn ] In the middle distance events, sophomore Sarah Shinn (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) swept NCAC indoor and outdoor titles in the 800-meter run, setting a conference record outdoors. She also won the All-Ohio crown in the indoor 800-meter run and qualified for the NCAA Division III indoor championship meet in that event.

Additional returning scorers from last year's conference meets are sophomore Claire Everhart (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane), who won All-NCAC honors in the 1500-meter run and took the All-Ohio championship in the mile run; and sophomore Amber Alegria (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic), who placed in the 400-meter dash at the NCAC indoor meet; as well as sophomores Kara Reiter (Chardon) and Hannah Winant (Gaithersburg, Md.), both of whom placed in the 800-meter run at the NCAC outdoor meet.

Shinn, Reiter and Everhart are holdovers from the Bishop distance medley relay team which set a school record and qualified for the NCAA Division III championship meet. The Bishop 1600-meter relay team of Shinn, Reiter, Ridgeway and Shaffer, which also set a school record and qualified for the NCAA Division III championship meet, returns intact.

Also back are juniors Valerie Sloboda (Columbia, Md./Atholton), Caitlin Chesnut (Wilmington) and Megan Downing (Mentor/Gilmour Academy) and sophomore Santa Zalite (Winston-Salem, N.C./Reynolds). Freshman Rachael Newman (Strongsville) will look to make an impact.

Junior Leah Schmelzer (Marion/Pleasant), who won the All-Ohio championship in the outdoor 10,000-meter run, and junior Laura Binkley (Columbus/Bishop Watterson), lead the Bishop distance corps. Both runners placed in both the 5000- and 10,000-meter runs at both NCAC indoor and outdoor championship meets.

Freshman Kat Zimmerly (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane), a second-team All-NCAC pick in cross country last fall, and freshman Jesi Dackin (Reynoldsburg), an all-region selection in high school, should contribute immediately, and junior Alexis Levesque (Yellow Springs), who missed part of last season with an injury, also returns.

Senior Donna Langerfeld (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) returns in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

[ Sharon Rymut ] In the throws, sophomore Sharon Rymut (Broadview Heights/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) won the discus at both last year's NCAC outdoor championship and the All-Ohio championship meet and placed third in the hammer at the NCAC meet as well. Sophomore Amy Herrington (Vermilion) returns, and freshman Josie Woodall (Warrensville/Orange) also seeks to contribute in the shot put and discus.

Senior Malley Adamsky (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) and classmate Caitlin Dugre (Longmeadow, Mass.) both placed in the javelin at last year's NCAC championship meet.

Ohio Wesleyan opens the indoor season on Dec. 8 at Capital. The indoor schedule gets into full swing on January 19 at the Kenyon Invitational, the NCAC championship meet will be held Feb. 29-March 1 at Denison and the NCAA Division III championship will be held March 14-15 at Ohio Northern. The outdoor season opens on March 22 at the Muskingum Invitational, and features the annual Marv Frye Invitational on April 5, the annual All-Ohio Division III championship meet on April 12 and the NCAC championship meet on May 1-2 before finishing with the NCAA Division III championship May 22-24 at Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

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