Taylor is a five-time All-American (OSU sports photo)

Buckeye Invitational

Ohio State five-time All-American Dan Taylor kicked off the 2004 season in grand fashion Saturday in the season-opening Buckeye Invitational in French Field House. The reigning Big Ten indoor and outdoor athlete of the year established an American collegiate record in the weight throw with a heave of 76-2.25 (23.22 meters), surpassing the previous mark of 74-8.5 held by Kevin Mannon of Wyoming.

Taylor's performance eclipsed his previous Big Ten and Ohio State weight throw records set March 3, 2003 at 22.35 meters, while falling shy of the NCAA record 24.02-meter mark set by Libor Charfreitag - a native of Slovakia - of SMU March 9, 2001.

Taylor also scored a first-place standing in the shot put with a throw of 66-6.5. His combined efforts in the weight throw and shot put Saturday set the all-time best performance in the two events in the history of indoor track and field. Taylor, whose career-best in the shot put is 69-11, now holds the all-time combined career record between the two events. With his efforts, Taylor will now be on his way to Arkansas to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships as both marks met the automatic qualifying standards.

Pole Vault Summit

Washington senior pole vaulter Brad Walker, whose saw his bid for a second NCAA title cut short in May by a broken hand, made a triumphant return to competition Friday, defeating American record holder Jeff Hartwig and reigning Olympic gold medalist Nick Hysong at the U.S. Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nev.

Walker (Spokane, Wash./University) placed second in the men's elite section of the event, which matches hundreds of the top American professional, collegiate and prep pole vaulters in the grand ballroom of the Reno Hilton. The senior's clearance of 18 feet, 4 inches was second only to Derek Miles, the 2003 U.S. indoor champion, who cleared 19 feet.

Complete results are still pending.

Kansas State Invitational

There were several NCAA indoor provisional qualifying marks met at the Kansas State Invitational on Saturday. Men's action included Wildcat performer Kyle Lancaster win the high jump with his clearance of 7-01.50. His teammate, Mike Kizinkewich, also cleared the same height but feel short in the overall standings due to more misses. Coby Cost of Kansas State kept pace with the field while winning the weight throw with his toss of 65-09.50. More field events action from Kansas State saw TJ Stabb hitting the provisional standard with his winning toss of 58-03 in the shot put.

Limited women's action saw K-State's Chaytan Hill set a meet record in the triple jump and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with her mark of 42-5.25.

Carolina Big 12

The Dick Taylor Track in Eddie Smith Field House hosted the annual Carolina Big 12 meet on Saturday. Things got started in the women's weight throw as North Carolina State's Kelly Smoke claimed the title with her NCAA provisional mark of 61-01.50. Debra Vento of Duke was able to clear 5-10 in the women's high jump which also met the provisional standard. The women's 60 meter hurdles saw ronetta alexander of South Carolina take second place -- the first collegian -- in 8.36 seconds.

Bershawn Jackson of St. Augustine's made his long awaited collegiate debut while winning the 400 meters in 47.59 which met the NCAA Division II automatic standard. The newest phenom over the outdoor intermediate hurdles, Jackson has improved his personal best by nearly 2 seconds over the last year. Jackson's 48.23 in winning at Madrid, Spain this past summer was the second fastest time that season by an American. Jackson was the runner-up in the 400 meter hurdles at the 2003 U.S. Outdoor Championships and should be one to watch this collegiate season.

Chippewa Open

Central Michigan was host to the Chippewa Open on Friday night. Amanda Storck of Central Michigan broke her own school record and provisionally qualified in the pole vault with her winning clearance of 3.95 meters.

Father Diamond Open

It was the David Oliver show at the Father Diamon Open hosted by George Mason University. The senior from Howard won the 60 meter hurdles in 7.80 seconds which was .1 second short of meeting the NCAA automatic mark in the event. Along with Oliver, who also met the provisional standard, was Richard Phillips of George Mason who finished second in 7.81.

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Note: Free time permitting, the Trackshark weekend review is updated frequently over the weekend and completed by every Sunday night upon the posting of all results. If there is anything that we have overlooked, such as a student-athlete who earned an NCAA Division I automatic qualifying mark or any other big performance that broke any records, feel free to contact us and we'll publish it on a timely matter.