May 5, 2012 7:00 a.m. — Allegheny senior Lauren Butler remarked to one of her coaches that she was about to make what might be the last attempt at the shot put of her college career.

Far from savoring the moment, Butler stepped into the circle, went almost immediately into her throwing motion, and popped a personal-best toss of 12.31 meters (40 feet, 6 1/2 inches) to become Allegheny’s first gold medal winner at the 2012 North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Friday at Robertson Field.

“The more relaxed you are, the better,” said Butler, explaining her rather expeditious last hurrah in the event. “Try not to think about it. Get your mind off of it, because the more loose you are the farther you throw.”

And Butler certainly had to throw it far. Right before her last attempt, Ohio Wesleyan’s Hannah Benzing had a throw of 12.01 meters, and fellow Battling Bishop Hannah Philpot hit 12.25, which was, at the time, the top throw of the finals.

Up to that point, Butler’s best toss in the finals was her first round heave of 11.84 meters. She faulted on her second attempt.

The third, however, beat them all.

“Everyone threw so well (Friday),” said Butler. “It was really impressive. It was an impressive field. I think almost everyone that made the finals had a personal record.”

That includes Butler, who beat her former personal best of 12.28 that she had thrown earlier in the day in the preliminary round.

This was the second NCAC outdoor shot put title for Butler. She last won it as a sophomore. She has four indoor conference titles in the event.

Today, starting at 10:30 a.m., Butler will be aiming for her fourth conference title in the javelin.

“I’m definitely way more relaxed,” said Butler, who earlier this week won the Allegheny Student Athlete Advisory Committee’s Athlete of the Year award. “I know my career is winding down. And right now I just want to have fun and enjoy my teammates and enjoy my last bit of time here.”



Rain, rain go away



Friday’s action was interrupted by a pair of hour-long weather delays. Thunder first rumbled at about 1:30 p.m., halting the morning field events. Action resumed around an hour later, only to be cut off again by another thunderstorm at around 5 p.m. as the track events were just getting going.

The delays pushed back many of the afternoon events, the last of which, the men’s 10,000-meter run, didn’t start until 8:50 p.m. instead of its original 7:20 start time.

“Our crew handled the rain really well,” said Allegheny head track coach Brent Wilkerson. “We had a plan in place. We only really lost about an hour and a half of meet time, with the way the meet was set up. We were kind of built for rain adjustments. So, it’s not a new circus for us.”



Gator throwers rack up points



Not only did Butler post a first-place distance in the shot put, she also grabbed a few points in the discus with a seventh-place toss of 33.10.

“She even scored in the discus, which is like her worst event,” said Wilkerson. “So that was a good pick-up.”

Butler’s teammate and fellow thrower, Kristin Collins, earned the Gators points in two events yesterday. She finished sixth in the discus (33.10) and also added a seventh-place finish in the shot put (10.76).



Scoring for the guys



Allegheny senior Patrick McLaughlin was the top finisher for the men’s team during day one of the meet, finishing in third place in the grueling 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:33.68.

Also scoring points for the Gators yesterday was sophomore Zach Hill. He notched a fourth-place distance of 6.44 meters in the long jump.

Fellow Gators sophomore Sean Danaher finished sixth in the discus with a distance of 38.30 meters.



OWU, Wabash in the lead



As expected, the Ohio Wesleyan women and the Wabash men are leading the way in their respective team standings after the first day of action at the NCAC championship meet.

On the women’s side, OWU has a commanding lead with 78.5 points. The Bishops were led by champion pole vaulter Antionette Jolliff, who cleared 3.30 meters to win the event.

The Wesleyan ladies are followed by DePauw in second (34.5) and Oberlin in third (33). Allegheny is in sixth place going into the second day with 17 points.

For the men, Wabash is well ahead with 91 points. Out of five completed events, the Little Giants have three champions. Freshman Derek De St. Jean was tops in the shot put (15.28 meters) and the discus (48.10 meters) and junior Vann Hunt took gold in the long jump (6.70 meters).

Following the Giants is Ohio Wesleyan in second (43) and DePauw in third (38). Allegheny is fourth with 18 points.



Action continues today



The NCAC championship meet continues today with group of field events getting underway at 10:30 a.m.

“We got a lot of finals events tomorrow, more throwing events,” said Wilkerson. “The women’s javelin, we’re hoping to pick up a lot of points there.

“Day two is always a lot of fun.”

The Gators have a handful of runners who qualified for today’s finals. Senior Taylor Throckmorton qualified for the men’s 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash thanks to a a couple solid performances in the preliminaries.

For Allegheny’s women’s team, sophomore Sarah Moss worked her way into the finals of the 100-hurdles after a third-place finish in the prelims. And sophomore Dominique Billingslea was a pleasant surprise for the Gators in the sprints.  

“(Billingslea) made it to the finals of the 100 and the 200,” said Wilkerson. “She’s been battling some injuries lately,” Wilkerson said. “So it’s been nice to see her make it into the finals.”

Today will also feature the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, which includes Allegheny’s Bobby Over as the favorite. Over is ranked third in the nation in the event, and he’ll be competing against two other nationally-ranked runners in Wabash’s Kevin McCarthy (fifth) and Ohio Wesleyan’s Kale Booher (9:08.59).

“The steeplechase is going to be big,” Wilkerson said. “That will be a marquee event. A lot of people will be watching that, for sure.”