Rhodes Open
3/17/07

The Rhodes Lynx opened their outdoor season at home Saturday, playing host to over twenty teams from Divisions I and III in a non-scoring meet. Across the board, many strong performances by Rhodes athletes served as an indicator of good things to come for the season.

The Lynx distance squad found the cool, early spring temperatures to their liking as several athletes ran personal bests to open the season. Sophomore Steele French (Milton/Alpharetta, GA) and junior Alex Mahoney (New Trier/Winnetka, IL) led the way, each placing 4th in their respective events. French crossed the line in 1:59.40 for 800m, while Mahoney clocked 15:14.09 for 5000m. Also in the 5000m, junior Dave Huntzinger (Maclay/Tallahassee, FL) finished strong in 16:14.52, setting a personal best as well, while first year runner Kate Scherer debuted in 19:53.60 on the women's side.

Freshman Cybil Covic ( Cordova, TN) cracked into the Lynx all time top 10 list in the 1500m by running a personal best of 4:56.34 in a race that featured significant Division I competition. Sophomore Emily Broocks (Cedar Creek/Ruston, LA), finished 7th in the 800m in a solid 2:25.08.

Sophomore Alanna Topps ( Gallatin/ Hendersonville, TN) continued to improve her hurdle technique and has firmly established herself as one of the best hurdlers in the conference, as she set a personal best in the 400 intermediate hurdles, placing 7th in 1:11.22. Also for the women, sophomore Annie Bell (MICDS/St. Louis) placed 3rd in the triple jump, nearing a NCAA provisional mark with her jump of 11.13m (36'6.25") and sophomore Valisa Berber-Thayer (Fredericksburg, TX) established a solid opening day mark in the long jump in 5.10m (16'8.75") which earned her 6th and she was the top Division III jumper at the meet. Freshman Kim Tryon (Gulf Breeze, FL) and senior Elizabeth Erny (Sacred Heart/Louisville, KY) placed 7th and 8th respectively in the women's pole vault with jumps of 3.04m (10'00") and 2.89m (9'6").

The men's field events were also well represented by Rhodes, with freshman Greg Cook (St. John's/Bellaire, TX) and sophomore Larry Hurd (Bartlett/Memphis, TN) each placing 10th in their respective events, each as the top Division III athlete. Cook triple jumped 13.11m (43'00"), while Hurd landed the discus 42.24m (138'07") from the throwing circle. Both the men's and women's teams now find themselves with strong early season performance marks on which to build as they look forward to another competitive home meet this coming Saturday, March 24.

Results