Seniors open 2010 season strong for Trojans

MOUNT PLEASANT ? As expected, Fairfield?s standout seniors Libbey Schubert and Katie Hammes shined.

And as hoped, the big group of underclassmen did the same for the Trojans in their season-opening meet at Mount Pleasant Thursday evening.

The eight-team event did not keep a team score, but the young Fairfield team ran competitive and took home three event titles.

?It was really a good first night out for us considering the conditions,? said head coach Ron Hunerdosse. ?It was huge to see us do as well as we did, and there?s a lot of ways to get better ? especially if we get a nicer night to run.?

Hammes started things for Fairfield picking up right where she left off from preseason indoor meets ? as well as the state meet a year ago ? with a personal best shot put of 38-feet, 10.25-inches to win the event. The senior also took third in the discus (104? 5?) followed up by a fifth-place effort from freshman Sidney Baumann (91? 0?).

Schubert took it from there for the Trojans with a good run in the 100-meter dash to finish second ? missing out on first by .01 seconds thanks to a Davenport Assumption runner in the ?slow heat.? Schubert bounced back and eased past the 200-meter dash field and take first in a time of 27.16 and also anchored the 4x100-relay team to a runner-up finish (52.69).

Edna Jones, Kiersten Vaughan and Sydney Howard also ran on that second-place sprint-relay team for the Trojans.

?We knew the sprinters would carry us early on, but there are signs of the middle-distance runners getting better,? Hunerdosse said. ?When you?re with them everyday, you can tell they?re just starting to figure out how to run these races.?

The biggest sign of that jumping out at Hunerdosse came in the form of freshman Holly Kerr posting a victory in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:36.

Fellow freshman Jessica Lamb also performed well ? as many expected ? in her first varsity meet running a diverse set of events that included two distances runs along with an anchor leg of the 4x200 relay. Lamb crossed the finish line second in the 3,000 (12:12), fifth in the 1500 (5:22) and also helped the relay team to fifth-place along with Jones, Erin Thompson and Howard in 1:56.54.

Thompson and Tori Keltner ? also freshmen ? battled the blustery conditions in their one trip around the track as Keltner came in third in the 400-meter dash (1:07) and Thompson took sixth (1:15) to begin her 400-meter hurdle career.

?We showed some good things, and now we just need to develop depth, which I?m comfortable we will,? said Hunerdosse. ?The young kids are starting to come around.?

Other highlights for Fairfield include Annie Buch, Ashley Shields, Courtney Laux and Tiffani Brush combining to take fourth in the distance medley (4:56).

Complete Fairfield results are at right.

The Trojans will next run the Fairfield Relays on their home track Tuesday.