Men's Track & Field kicks off 2011 with strong showing in Joe Banks Invitational

ADA — The Ohio Northern men's track and field team recorded a strong start to the 2011 season Friday night by finishing second with 207 points in the Joe Banks Invitational at the ONU Sports Center.

University of Findlay won the invitational with 244 points, followed by Huntington (Ind.) with 83.5.

Ryan Fleming, Ben Ankrom, Evan McKee and Thomas Steinberger each notched first-place finishes for the Polar Bears.

Fleming started his senior season off strong, winning the 60-meter dash in 7.05 seconds. He finished third in the 200-meter dash in 23.48.

Ankrom won the mile with a time of 4:20.72. Junior Dan Smith finished second in the same event with a time of 4:24.37

McKee took the 1,000 run with a time of 2:41.21.

Steinberger won the triple jump (38-7) and finished second in the high jump with 20-25.

Jacob Schwab and Garrett Brown finished second and third respectively in the 400-meter dash. Schwab finished with a time of 51.18, while Brown was right behind finishing in 51.72.

Seniors Jared Simon and Jacob Schoenlein finished second and third, respectively, in the 3,000-meter. Simon finished with a time of 8:57.63, while Schoenlein finished in 9:01.32.

Northern's 4x200 relay team of Fleming, Schwab, Francisque Pierre-Jerome and James Burke finished second in 1:32.76.

In the 4x400 relay, Ankrom, Travis Isenberg, Patrick Rachow and Cory Bailey finished third in 3:40.

Freshman Tyler Borton cleared 11-11.75 for a third-place finish in the pole vault.

In the high jump, Tim Polack cleared 5-10.5 for a second-place finish. Kyle Weslosky finished third with a mark of 5-6.5.

Ohio Northern will be back in action next Friday, Jan. 21, at the Findlay Invitational. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.