Summers Victorious Again, Bobcats Finish Fifth at MAC Outdoors

Junior wins 5,000 for second time in career

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Ohio's Kari Summers won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
 
Ohio's Kari Summers won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
  
 

May 16, 2009

Complete Results

AKRON, Ohio - Ohio's Kari Summers (Troy, Ohio) claimed the 5,000-meter title on Saturday, helping the Bobcats to a fifth-place overall finish with 73 points at the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The win was Summers' second of the meet, as she also took first place in the 10,000 meters, and Ohio's third individual victory. The University of Akron Zips nabbed the team title for the fourth-consecutive year, this time at home at the Lee Jackson Track & Field Complex, with 147 total points.

Summers was named the Female Most Outstanding Track Performer for her two wins over the course of the meet. She took the top spot in the 5,000 for the second time in her career, as she also won the event as a freshman, and is the first Bobcat to sweep the 5,000 and 10,000 since Ohio Hall of Fame member Jackie Conrad accomplished the feat in 1997 and 1998. Ohio's fifth-place team finish is two places better than last year's finish of seventh.

Also contributing to Ohio's strong effort was senior Jessie Tanner (Newark, Ohio), who placed sixth in the discus, matching her finish in the hammer throw, with a heave of 150 feet, four inches. Juniors Bahiyjaui Allen (Toledo, Ohio), the shot put champion, and Emily Amendola (Beach City, Ohio) took 11th and 13th, respectively. In the high jump, Cathy Udeani (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) placed fourth, clearing the bar at a height of five feet, seven and one-quarter inches.

On the track, the Bobcat 4x100-meter relay squad ran a season-best time of 47.52 seconds to earn a sixth-place finish, while the 4x400 team earned a point with an eighth-place finish. Individually, senior Melissa Wiley (Columbus, Ohio) claimed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.13 seconds and eighth in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 1:05.92.

Six Bobcats will compete at the NCAA Mideast Regional on May 29-30, hosted by the University of Louisville, in an attempt to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Complete coverage will be available on OhioBobcats.com.