Athletes of the Week Athlete of the Week honors are given out to deserving athletes who demonstrate positive impressionable performances or acts which best represent the ideals of the University of Akron Track and Field/Cross Country program. 12/11 Kira Sims (Garfield HS, VA) 1/15 Greg Corbitt (Ayersville HS) 1/22 Jennie Castle (Barnesville HS) Devin Booker (Orange HS) 1/29 Jaime Alton (Mentor HS) Jason Flowers (Solon HS) Go to www.uakron.edu/track to get the full story on each deserving “Track Athlete of the Week”. Construction underway on new field house being equipped with 300 meter track and spectator seating.

JOIN THE FUN FREE BUS RIDE TO MAC INDOOR Wow! What a great opportunity to see a great meet with fellow Zip supporters. The University of Akron Zip Athletic Club and Bob Gill are providing a free bus trip to Mid American Conference Indoor Championships Saturday, February 23, 2002. The bus will depart with enthusiastic Akron track fans at 8:00 AM in front of the James A. Rhodes Arena. It will arrive at the Bowling Green University indoor track around 10:30 AM. The BGSU track arena is small so a bus full of screaming Zip supporters will have a great impact on the meet. There is limited space available so make your reservation as soon as possible. Meet Tickets are $10.00 each For Reservations: Call 330/972-6463, or Email at dwmitch@uakron.edu. ZIPS TRACK AND FIELD ON THE INTERNET Zips Track and Field is on the cutting edge of Internet and Web technology. The official Akron Track and Field/Cross Country Web site is www.uakron.edu/track. If you would like to be sent updates by e-mail please e-mail us with the request at dwmitch@uakron.edu/track. INDOOR SEASON IN FULL SWING The Akron Zips have already competed in four competitions over the indoor season. They are just a few more weeks away from MAC Championships. Golden Flash Gala Kent State Univ. On December 7-8th, the University of Akron Zips began the 2001-2002 indoor campaign with several outstanding efforts at the Kent State “Golden Flash Gala”. Freshman High Jumper Thomas Smialek tied the school record of 7-1/4 winning the event and sophomore Kira Sims established a new varsity standard and NCAA qualifying mark in the Pole

SCHOOL RECORDS 2002 SHOT PUT Greg Corbitt 53-8.75 POLE VAULT Kira Sims 12-5 HIGH JUMP Tomasz Smialek 7-1 WEIGHT THROW Greg Corbitt 60-8.75 2002 Signees Katrina Jones Distance Martins Ferry HS Ashley Kaufmann -Throws Freedom HS (PA) Brandi Schoeppner Distance Minerva HS David Howard Distance Northwest HS Tim Myers Distance Liberty Center HS Chris Perun Distance Barnesville HS Lee J. Rosenberger Throws Ottawa-Glandorf HS

Vault with 12-5 1/2 effort. Seniors LeShaunte’ Edwards and Bobbie Hardbarger each earned double victories.

Edwards sprinted to wins in the 60 and 200m dashes, and Hardbarger capturing the 800m and mile run. Multiple All-American Mary Varga was victorious in the Pentathlon by more than 200 points.

Black Squirrel Open

Kent State University

January 11-12 saw the Zips in action once again at the Black Squirrel Classic at Kent State University. On the women’s side senior Mary Varga won the pentathlon scoring 3852 while fellow senior Renata Smith won the shot put with a throw of 46’ 1 ½”. The men were also well represented receiving wins from senior LaShaunte Edwards 60 (6.85) and 200 (21.67), senior Oran Bell 500 meters (1:05.10) sophomore Devin Booker 300 intermediate hurdles (39.86) and senior Jim Demarco in the pole vault(15’ 11”). Junior Greg Corbitt also improved his school record in the 35# weight throw to 60’ 8 ½”.

Bowling Green Meet

On January 19th. The Zips men and women's track and field teams traveled to Bowling Green, OH for the the BGSU quad meet. Twelve individual winners highlighted the meet, with the men and women's squad taking six each. On the men's side LesShaunte Edwards continued his winning ways in the 60m and 200m remaining undefeated for the third week in a row, Greg Corbitt Won the 35lb weight and established a new school Record in the shot put, Devin Booker earned his first collegiate victory in the 60HH, and Tomasz Smialek and Kevin Poest topped of the meet with victories in the High Jump and Pole Vault, respectively. On the Women's side Mary Varga continued her winning ways with a victory in the HJ and a second place finish in the Long Jump. Zip women dominated in the dashes with wins by Deanna Caldwell, Deanna Norflee, and Jennie Castle in 60m, 200m and 400m respectively. Other winners include, Kira Sims in the Long jump and Jeanine Thomas in the Pole Vault. Along with the twelve victories mentioned, the Zips also had eleven second place finishes. So, the meet was definitely a step in the right direction for the Zips.

Edwards on his way to winning

4^th 200 of the season at PSU.

Penn State National

January 25-26 2002

Five Zips made the trip to the Penn State National Open to get on the state-of-the-art hydraulic indoor track and to take a shot at establishing NCAA qualifying marks. There were few Zip athletes who made the trip but Akron came up looking like a dominant team in the 25 plus teams at the meet garnishing four first places and a second.

LeShaunte Edwards (Sr., Rhoads HS) led the group with victories in the 60 and 200. In the 200 he ran an NCAA qualifying mark of 21.17. These two victories keeps Edwards undefeated for four meets and the season in those two events. His performance earned him UA Athlete of the Week honors.

Freshman, Tomasz Smialek (Poland) broke an 18 year old school record in the high jump. He went 7’1” to win the competition and gained a national qualifying mark. Mary Varga also won the high jump clearing 5’8 ¾ “.

Pole Vaulters Kira Sims (Woodbridge, Garfield HS, VA) and Jeanine Thomas (Newark, Oh,) were second and sixth place respectively.

Central Collegiate Championships

Kent, OH

January 26, 2002

With stars like LeShaunte Edwards, Mary Varga, and Tomasz Smialek competing at Penn State, no Akron athletes climbed onto the highest step of the awards podium at the Central Collegiate Championships, however, the Akron presence was marked by a series of solid performances.

Some of Akron’s points came from expected sources. Proven veterans in the throws, Greg Corbitt and Renata Smith, placed highly. Corbitt’s 59’ 4” throw of the 35-pound weight placed him third in a highly competitive competition while Smith was the runner-up in the women’s shot put (45’ 6.25”). Senior sprinter Deanna Norflee raced to second place in the 60m dash and then came back to place fourth in the 200m and the men’s pole vault trio of Jim DeMarco, Greg Miller, and Kevin Poest placed 3-4-5.

Talented youngsters also made their presence felt. Freshmen sprinters Deanna Caldwell and John Biacofsky showed the Akron sprint tradition is in good hands. Caldwell placed fourth in the 60m and fifth in the 200m while Biacofsky finished third in the men’s 60m. Jennie Castle showed that the school record in the 800 is in jeopardy finishing third in the meet and running 2:15.26 in her collegiate 800m debut. Sophomores Takeithia Jordan (HJ), Devin Booker (60m Hurdles), and Erin Frye (5000m) all scored in their events.

Finally, a pair of seniors made unexpected contributions to the Akron cause. Jaime Alton’s 9 second improvement on her personal best in the 3000m earned her a third-place finish. Jaime came to Akron as a walk-on 800m runner and through her hard work has transformed herself into a capable collegiate distance runner. She has improved her 5km cross country time by over two minutes and last spring missed the NCAA provisional standard in the steeplechase by a second. Jason Flowers has missed much of the past two seasons due to a string of injuries, however, his spirit and dedication has not waned. At Central Collegiates he ran 1:55 in his first 800m of the season and then split 47.5 to help the 1600m relay place third overall (from the second section) in a season’s best time of 3:16.20.

NEXT BIG MEET FOR THE BLUE AND GOLD

The next big meet the Zips will be pulling their gold uniforms out for will be the All-Ohio Championships at Bowling Green State University. This facility will be the home for the MAC Indoor Championships. All-Ohio is always a fun exciting meet to watch and to participate in. The pride of Ohio is on the line. Events start at 11:30 am.

2002 Track & Field Schedule

Indoor Dec 7-8 Golden Flash Gala Kent, OH Jan 11-12 Black Squirrel Invitational Kent, OH Jan 19 Bowling Green Quad, Bowling Green, OH Jan 25-26 National Open, State College, PA Jan 26 Central Collegiates, Kent, OH Feb 2 West Virginia Univ. Feb 9 All Ohio Champs, Bowling Green, OH Feb 16 Scarlet & Gray Invitational Columbus, OH Feb 16 Silverston Invitational, Ann Arbor, MI Feb 16 EMU Classic, Ypsilanti, MI Feb 22-23 MAC Indoor Championships, Bowling Green, OH Mar 1-2 USATF Indoor Champs New York, NY Mar 8-9 NCAA Indoor Championships Fayetteville, AR

Outdoor Mar 23 UNC Quad, Chapel Hill, NC Mar 28-30 Florida Relays, Gainesville, FL Apr 3-6 Texas Relays, Austin, TX Apr 6 Icebreaker Open , Kent, OH Apr 13 All Ohio, Columbus, OH Apr 18-20 Mt SAC Relays, Walnut, CA Apr 23-27 Penn Relays, Philadelphia, PA Apr 27 Baldwin-Wallace Invitational Berea, OH May 4 Ohio Quad, Akron, OH May 5 Jesse Owens Invitational, Columbus, OH May 11 Al Campbell Open, Akron, OH May 16-18 MAC Outdoor Championships Ypsilanti, MI May 29-Jun 1 NCAA Outdoor Championships Baton Rouge, LA Jun 18-23 USATF Outdoor Championships Stanford, CA