Thinclads struggle

Published 2:01 am Monday, April 21, 2003

By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
The Dowagiac track teams struggled on Saturday at the Grand Rapids Public Schools Invitational.
Consisting mostly of relay events, Dowagiac had trouble putting together successful ones according to coach Ken Jordan. Jordan did feel, however, that the competition the Chieftains faced on Saturday will help it down the road.
Dowagiac finished eighth in the boys' portion of the meet with 26 points. Muskegon Mona Shores was the overall champion with 74 points. Lansing Sexton was second with 68 points.
In the girls' portion of the meet, Dowagiac finished ninth with 14 points. East Grand Rapids won the meet with 82 points. Haslett was second with 70.
Jamaal Wade tied for second in the high jump with a leap of 5-8. J.J. White was third in the long jump with a leap of 20-7.5. Brandon Watkins was third in the discus with a throw of 129-3.
Justin Bennett took fourth in the discus with a toss of 128-2. White was fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.8.
Dowagiac's Sabrina Demerly was second in the discus with a throw of 90-11. Anne O'Keefe took third in the pole vault with a height of 8-feet.
Dowagiac returns to action on Tuesday as it heads to Battle Creek Lakeview for the first of two trips this week. The Chieftains will face Lakeview in a Big-16 Conference dual meet on Tuesday and then head back to Battle Creek on Friday for the Lakeview Invitational.
Collegiate track
KALAMAZOO -- A school record and a pair of NCAA qualifying provisional marks were among the highlights for the Albion College men's track and field team at the Western Michigan University Bronco Open Saturday.
Dowagiac's Adam Dohm was 10th in the 5,000-meters with a time of 16:04.65.
Junior Nick Morgan (Flint/Northern) set a school record in the 110-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 14.57 seconds. The previous record of 14.71 was set by Scott Newsome in 1989. Morgan's time was an NCAA provisional mark and earned him a second-place finish in the race.
The other provisional qualifying mark was set by senior Chris Stefanes (Bloomfield Hills/Birmigham Seaholm) in the javelin throw. Stefanes won the event with a season-best throw of 198 feet, 3 inches.
Junior Todd Falker (East Tawas/Tawas Area) and senior Brad Stish (Royalton, Minn./Royalton) earned third place finishes for the Britons. Falker crossed the finish line in a career-best time of 4:00.56 in the 1500-meter run, while Stish and first-year athlete Matt Haney (Galien/Brandywine) finished 3-4 in the triple jump with leaps of 40 feet, 3 1/2 inches and 40 feet, 3/4 inch, respectively.
Also, earning a fourth place was senior Eric D'Andrea (Highland/Milford) in the 800-meter run. D'Andrea finished with a time of 1:56.06.
Senior Nate Sowa (Clifford/Marlette) was fifth in the long jump with a mark of 21 feet, 3 1/2 inches.
Also finishing in the top eight at the meet were junior Clint Cooper (Constantine/Constantine), sophomores Brian Elliott (Royal Oak/Birmingham Brother Rice) and Ivan Meiring (Quincy/Quincy), and first-year athletes Jerry Krueger (Otsego/Otsego) and Ross Plont (Ravenna/Ravenna).
Cooper finished sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.44 to earn sixth place. Elliott and Stish finished sixth and eighth in the 400-meter hurdles. Elliott finished in 57.26, while Stish finished in 58.16.
Meiring finished seventh in the discus with a throw of 153 feet, 4 inches. Krueger was seventh in the 400-meter dash (42.43), while Plont leaped 6 feet, 1 1/2 inch in the high jump for seventh.
In the 200-meter dash, Morgan finished seventh and Krueger eighth as the pair ran times of 22.63 and 23.28, respectively.
Albion returns to action next weekend at the Hillsdale College Relays.
Saxtons face each other
Former Dowagiac standouts April and Angela Saxton met on the track on Saturday in Kalamazoo running for Western Michigan and Hope College respectively.
April defeated Angela in both events where the two went head-to-head.
April Saxton was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.87, while Angela Saxton was 11th in 17.72.
In the 400-meter hurdles, April Saxton was second in 1:03.33, while Angela Saxton was eighth in 1:12.04.
Angela Saxton was also 16th in the long jump with a leap of 14-4.