On the 20th anniversary, the Varsity “A” is excited to name the 1999 women’s track and field team as a Team of Distinction, the first UA women’s team to earn the honor. Michelle Rizzo
Under the guidance of head coach Dennis Mitchell, the 1999 women’s track and field team became the first women’s team at Akron to win a Mid-American Conference team title by the claiming the league’s outdoor title. Seven school records were set at the meet, led by Christi Smith’s 5,528 points in the heptathlon.
“Amazing” is the word that comes to mind when trying to describe the turnaround that Mitchell and assistants Scott Jones, P.J. Wright, and Kevin Brown have directed with the track and cross country programs at Akron. From bottom-tier finishers to two MAC titles and four All-Americans in 1999, the Zips were on the rise.
Christi Smith became Akron’s first multiple All-America honoree in 1999. Just one year removed from Akron’s first ever All-American, Smith took ninth in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a leap of 19-8 3/4. Becoming the first Akron athlete to qualify for both the indoor and outdoor national competitions, Smith became a three-time All-American, coming in second in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Boise, Idaho.
Just a freshman, Mary Varga proved she herself an outstanding all-around athlete by qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump. When she cleared 5-11 1/4, Akron’s school high jump record holder finished ninth and earned her first All-America certificate. In addition, freshman Jeanine Thomas qualified for the NCAA meet in the pole vault, marking the first time three Akron women had qualified for the national competition.
The national honors continued in the fall when Michelle Rizzo took the MAC cross country world by storm, winning the conference title, qualifying for the NCAA meet and finishing 38th to become UA’s first cross country All-American.
All of these individual successes were highlighted by a team triumph on May 22, 1999, when Akron captured the MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship. It was the fruit of hard labor and a long climb up. Their first five seasons in the conference saw the Zips unable to score even 20 points as they finished 10th of 10 teams each year. Akron shot to seventh in the 1998 season with 56.5 points, scoring in nine events. Jeanine Thomas
The 1999 meet began with a record-breaking performance as Smith set a new Akron and MAC score in the heptathlon with 5,528 points. She added to Akron’s team lead with fourth-place finishes in the long jump (18-10 3/4), javelin (139-4) and triple jump (39-4 1/2). She earned the award for Most Valuable Performance after earning a total of 25 points.
Akron’s second record of the meet came from Varga as she broke the javelin mark with a throw of 143-11, finishing third. Varga earned another six points with a third-place finish in the heptathlon, and eight points by coming in second in the high jump.
Sophomore Jessie Sheeran was the third Zip to put her name in the UA record book at the meet with a fourth-place throw on the shot put of 46-8. Another pleasant surprise was Tisrulina Westbrook’s third-place performance in the long jump (19-2 1/2).
Thomas led a 1-2-4 Akron finish in the pole vault with fellow freshman Keelie Harvey taking second and the versatile Karen Beasley coming in fourth.
The meet concluded with the track events and Akron continued to take aim at school records. Jasmine Reynolds was at the front of the charge as she took second in the 100 (11.58) and third in the 200 (23.48), both record times. Reynolds then join Terra Jones, Deanna Norflee and LaTrese Taylor on the 4x100 relay team that won in a record time of 45.59.
Others who contributed to Akron’s 121 points total were Taylor (5th-100m; 6th-200m), Lisa Clark (6th-400m), Jennifer Moore (7th-800m), Bobbie Hardbarger (7th-1500m) and Jones (6th-100 hurdles).
1999 Akron Women’s Track & Field Team Mid-American Conference Champion Christi SmithName Yr. Event (s) Hometown | High School
Jaime Alton Fr. Middle Distance Mentor, Ohio | Mentor
Karen Beasley Jr. Jumps Blakeslee, Ohio | Edon
Royale Brown Jr. Throws Akron, Ohio | Central Hower
Lisa Clark So. Middle Distance Columbus, Ohio | Worthington
Jackie Coe So. Throws Wadsworth, Ohio | Wadsworth
Bobbie Hardbarger Fr. Distance Newark, Ohio | Utica
Keelie Harvey Fr. Multi Mentor, Ohio | Mayfield
Gigi Hopple So. Distance Massillon, Ohio | Perry
Eva Horvat Fr. Distance Kirtland, Ohio | Lake Catholic
Laura Jones So. Distance Mentor, Ohio | Mentor
Terra Jones Sr. Sprints | Hurdles Middletown, Ohio | Middletown
Tonya VaVigne So. Middle Distance Norwalk, Ohio | Norwalk
Margo LeVang So. Multi Keene, N.D. | Johnson Corners Christian Acad.
Anne Mathes Sr. Jumps Butler, Ohio | Clear Fork
Mary Matuk Sr. Distance Ravenna, Ohio | Ravenna
Tracy Meder So. Distance Akron, Ohio | Green
Jennifer Moore Fr. Distance Girard, Ohio | Girard
Deanna Norflee Fr. Sprints Dayton, Ohio | Trotwood
Christin Perdue Fr. Sprints Canton, Ohio | Glen Oak
Jasmine Reynolds Jr. Sprints Columbus, Ohio | Brookhaven
Michelle Rizzo Fr. Distance Painesville, Ohio | Perry
Jessie Sheeran So. Throws Fostoria, Ohio | Fostoria
Christi Smith Jr. Multi Columbus, Ohio | Bexley
Renata Smith So. Throws Cleveland, Ohio | Shaw
LaTrese Taylor Jr. Sprints Canton, Ohio | McKinlehy
Jeanine Thomas Fr. Pole Vault Newark, Ohio | Newark
Kelly Trenta Sr. Throws Wadsworth, Ohio | Wadsworth
Mary Varga Fr. Multi Tallamdge, Ohio | Tallmadge
Tisrulina Westbrook Jr. Jumps Columbus, Ohio | Brookhaven
Mary Varga
Head coach: Dennis Mitchell
Assistant coaches: P.J. Wright (sprints/hurdles), Scott Jones (distance), Kevin Brown (field events)
Strength coach: Paul Donatelli
Graduate Assistants: Brande Lamb, Aron McGuire
