Men's Track & Field turns in solid performances at Jesse Owens and All-Ohio Championships

By: Monique Bowman

DELAWARE/COLUMBUS - The Polar Bear men's track & field team turned in great performances this weekend at two different meets.

Senior Dan Smith competed at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Track Classic on Friday and finished 11th overall in the 1,500 run in 3:50.00. That finish places him second in the event on the 2012 NCAA D-III Outdoor Qualifier list.

The team followed up on Saturday with a sixth place finish on 45.5 points at the 2012 All-Ohio Championships at Ohio Wesleyan.

Northern placed sixth overall. Winning the meet was Mount Union with 118.5 points, followed by Ohio Wesleyan and Baldwin-Wallace with 99 and 73 points, respectively.

Junior Michael Simmons set a new school record in the steeplechase with a first-place finish of 9:23.43.

Junior Ben Ankrom and sophomore Evan McKee earned second place finishes. Ankrom finished the 1,500 run in 3:59.99 and McKee finished the 800 in 1:55.72.

Taking fourth place was sophomore Mark Berton in the steeplechase (9:38.31), and freshman Ryan Brancheau in the high jump at 6-2.

ONU competes at the Kenyon Invite on next Saturday.

Photo credit: Bruce Bayman