March 1, 2005

ATHENS, Ohio - Back on Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day - Bobcat track and field coach Clay Calkins proposed to his girlfriend of three years, Sherry Barnes, who is the university's director of transportation and parking services. Don't let the romantic timing fool you, though.

"It took me a total of about three minutes to pick out the ring," said Calkins. "I just went uptown, picked out a diamond, picked out a setting and bought it. I had no idea what I was looking for so I just looked in the case and picked out what I liked."

Three weeks later, Calkins drove back in the driving rain and picked up the ring on Valentine's Day. Later that day, he presented it to Barnes while it was still in the bag.

"We were at my house and basically I just gave her the bag with the ring in it and said Happy Valentine's Day," recalled Calkins. "She opened it and there it was. She told me that she never thought in a millions years that I would propose to her on Valentine's Day.

"I tried to throw her off a little bit by buying a bunch of attachments for the Kitchen Aid mixer I had given her for Christmas. I think it worked pretty well."

After the proposal, they went out to dinner to celebrate. Later that night, unfortunately, Barnes became ill from the fish she had eaten.

"Nothing like a romantic evening, right?" Calkins joked.

According to Calkins, there is no date set for the wedding yet. Instead, his mind is focused on the upcoming outdoor season for his track and field squads.

"We're looking for big things from Jericka Duncan this spring," Calkins said about the Bobcat women's team. "She's a senior and a team captain for us. It would be great to have her go out on a big note by going to nationals.

"It would be nice to see Rebecca Diehl come back in the long jump and place in the MAC again. She did it as a freshman but has been out with some injuries so I would like to see her back. Plus, we expect great things from our distance runners Carime Reinhart and Andrea Maas."

On the men's side, Calkins is looking forward to the return of Scott Mayle, who won the MAC long jump titles during the 2003 outdoor and 2004 indoor seasons but has missed the past season of each.

"I've talked with Scott and he's excited for the outdoor season," said Calkins about Mayle, who was also the leading receiver on the Bobcat football team last fall. "He's healthy so he can fill a lot of voids for us in relays, short sprints and jumps. With some work, he could be a national champion in the long jump and possibly an All-American in the 100 and 200 meters."

Calkins also believes Mayle could become a world-class athlete in the decathlon if he chooses to work at it following the completion of his football career.

Also impressing Calkins have been Ohio's distance runners.

"We're expecting great things out of Austin Schiele, Drew Frum and Jason Linton," he said. "The whole distance crew has really turned it up a notch. Their attitude has turned the distance program around on the men's side so I'd like to see great things on the track from them."

The Bobcats will host three events this spring: the Ohio Invitational on April 1-2, the Bobcat Invitational on April 30 and the MAC Championships on May 12-14.

"It's going to be an exciting season, especially with us hosting the Mid-American Conference meet here at home," said Calkins. "In preparation for that meet, we're going to put on some great meets with a lot of teams coming in to see the venue. There will be 12-15 teams here for that first weekend in April so that will be a premier event."

If you are interested in volunteering for any of the home track and field events, please contact Calkins at 740-593-1191 or calkins@ohio.edu.

"We can never have too much help at the track," said Calkins. "We'll need assistance in timing, raking the pits, measuring distances, moving the hurdles and all sorts of event management tasks."