March 29, 2024

The HPER Center was a hive of activity Saturday, Jan. 25 as Wittenberg hosted the Coach Rob Track and Field Indoor Invitational in The Steemer. The track and field invitational was the second-ever athletic event in the facility and saw teams from the North Coast, Heartland Collegiate and Ohio Athletic Conferences converge in Springfield to compete at Wittenberg.

The Tigers opened the meet with a bang as Skyler Edwards (’23) threw 11.38 meters to place first in the women’s shot put while Leah Vogt (’23) threw 11.13 meters to finish second earning the Tigers 18 points. The men meanwhile were competing at the weight throw where Jonathan Seay (’20) finished fifth with a toss of 14.78 meters. The Tigers’ jumpers also got to work as Preslee Rolf (’21) flew into the air, clearing 2.80 meters for sixth place in the women’s pole vault. A little closer to the ground, Taylor Barnhisel (’21) cleared 1.45 meters for fourth place in the women’s high jump. Meanwhile, Perry Jaycee (’20) cleared 1.90 meters on his final attempt for second place in the men’s high jump and Paul Varnadoe (’22) cleared 1.85 meters for sixth place.

The running events were kicked off in the afternoon by the women’s 60-meter hurdles. Ryelee Clary (’21) and Tiffany Moss (’23) claimed fourth and fifth place with final times of 9.48 and 10.28. The Tigers’ male hurdlers failed to advance to the finals. The 60-meter dash occured next, where reining NCAC Newcomer of the Year Alexis Walker (’22) finished third, sneaking just under the eight second mark at 7.97 seconds. Tyler Brandon (’20) was the men’s top finisher in the 60-meter dash with 7.31 seconds for 12th place in the preliminaries.

Following the sprinters on the track was the 5000-meter run: Elizabeth Canright (’22) finished in 19:57.25 for third place in the women’s race, while Ryan Zimmerman (’22) finished in 16:15.00 for fourth in the men’s race. The Tigers’ finished second in the distance medley as Jack Chambers (’22), Josh Finkeldey (’22), Caden Zellner (’23) and Evan Cordle (’23) finished in 11:26.89. Sprinters Barnhisel and Maxine Wishman (’22) netted the Tigers points in the women’s 400-meter with fifth and eighth place finishes. Austyn Albanese (’21) finished third in 51.71 seconds in the men’s 400-meter dash.

The Tigers also garnered a few first place finishes on the track as Deven Ramsey (’23) raced to the time of 1:57.06 in the men’s 800-meter. Walker also finished 200-meter dash with a blazing 25.76 seconds. Mount Union won both sections of the meet. The Tigers’ women’s team finished the Coach Rob Invitational in second place with a total of 100 points. The men’s team took third with with 84 points, narrowly falling to Wabash who finished with 99. The track and field teams head up north to the polar bear inhabited tundra of Ada, OH for the Joe Banks Invitational at Ohio Northern University on Saturday. The Tigers then head to Denison on Feb. 8 for the Bob Shannon Invitational.

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