Ohio State men’s track hope for ‘productive weekend’ at Big Ten Indoor Championship

Taylor Cameron
Fri, 28 Feb 2014 01:56:30 +0000
Sports, Track & Field, Big Ten, Buckeyes, ohio state, track

The weekend the No. 25 Ohio State men’s track and field teams have been training for all season is finally here.

The Buckeyes are set to make their way to Geneva, Ohio, to compete in the conference championship indoor meet this weekend.

Coach Ed Beathea has been trying to keep normalcy in practice this week as his team prepares for the big race.

“What we’re saying and what we’re trying to do this week is keep everything normal,” Beathea said. “We’re trying to keep them in their routine and keep them out of their heads.”

Beathea expects his team to come out of the meet having had a “productive weekend.” He said he hopes to have his team place within the top five finishers overall. The Buckeyes are set to compete against other top-ranked teams in No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 7 Penn State, and No. 21 Nebraska, as well as the rest of the conference.

“We know that at this point we don’t have enough depth to say we are going to win the championship,” he said. “We set realistic expectations of what we can get out of the weekend.”

Senior Demoye Bogle and redshirt-freshman Donovan Robertson, who both compete in sprints and hurdles, have set different expectations for themselves for the meet.

Bogle has the No. 3 overall seed in the 60-meter hurdles and Robertson has the No. 5 overall seed this weekend.

“Getting first and letting nothing but the color scarlet and gray be in front of you,” Bogle said. “That’s a mentality the team needs to go in there with.”

Robertson said he would like to see his teammates give their all, and hopes the enthusiastic support from the crowd will boost the team morale.

“We’re projected to go sixth (out of 11 teams),” Robertson said. “I definitely think we can do better than that.”

Another runner setting high expectations for himself this weekend is junior sprinter and hurdler Timothy Faust. He is looking to defend his title as the indoor 200-meter dash Big Ten Champion.

Beathea is only focused on the strengths of his team and what they put forth at the meet. He said he would like to see him team place well but thinks this weekend, regardless of the results, will be a nice segue to the outdoor season.

“I want these guys to run this weekend as if it is their last chance to run ever,” Beathea said. “We want to go out and be fierce competitors every time. That is what I am looking for and hoping to see.”

The races are slated to begin Friday at 10 a.m. and continue through Saturday at the SPIRE Institute.