Freshman Ian McVey leads Men's Track & Field to first place finish at the Joe Banks Invitational
By Ashley Birchmeier
ADA — The Ohio Northern men's track and field team claimed a 1st place finish of 14 teams Saturday at the annual Joe Banks Invitational hosted at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears move to 31-7 overall on the season.
In the 1,000-meter run, ONU claimed the top two spots as freshman Ian McVey won the event in 2:39.85 and senior Eric Wymer claimed second in 2:40.16.
The distance medley relay team also claimed a first place finish as junior Aaren Hemmelgarn, sophomore Bobby Borger, junior Kase Schalois and junior Cully Gordon finished the event in 10:49.31.
Senior William Huddleston claimed a second place finish in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:04.53.
In the 60-meter dash, senior Christian Rupe led ONU finishing second in :07.05.
Rupe also finished second in the 200-meter dash in :22.55.
Sophomore Matt Molinaro paced the way for the Polar Bears in the 1-mile finishing second in 4:17.70. Wymer finished eighth with a time of 4:24.91.
Senior Brandon Ike led ONU in the Pole Vault finishing third with a height of 14 feet 6 inches. Senior Steven Gohrband finished 10th with a height of 13 feet 0 inches.
The 4x200 relay team of sophomore Brandon Emert, senior Denorris Turner, junior Matthew Hommer, and sophomore Conner Karg claimed fourth with a time of 1:33.08.
In the long jump, freshman Avery Meadows finished fourth with a leap of 20 feet 5.75 inches and sophomore Luke Bogdanovich claimed seventh with a height of 19 feet 8.75 inches.
Sophomore William Wilson finished fourth in the high jump, while Bogdanovich finished sixth with a height of 6 feet 2 inches.
Senior Robbie Brinkman claimed a fifth place finish in the 60-meter hurdles in :08.74, followed by sophomore Matt Craven in sixth with a time of :08.75.
Brinkman also claimed a fourth place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 40 feet 11.75 inches.
Emert finished seventh in the 400-meter dash in :52.37.
In the weight throw, junior Zane Augustine finished eighth with a pitch of 47 feet 7.25 inches.
Junior Ian McKee finished sixth in the 800-meter run in 1:59.83.4.
In the 5000-meter run freshman Spencer Schulze took third place in 16:00.51, while junior Eric Collins took sixth place in 16:14.92.
The team of Molinaro, Turner, McKee and Emert finished the meet on a strong note finishing 3rd in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:31.26.
Northern will return to action Saturday as they compete in the All-Ohio Championships in Westerville.
"We are really proud of the effort that our team put forth today," said assistant coach Casey Gant. "It's good to have this kind of momentum heading into the All-Ohio Championships next weekend."
Team Results
1. Ohio Northern, 124 2. Ohio Dominican 102, 3. Rose-Hulman 97.5, 4. Otterbein 90.5, 5. John Carroll 87, 6. Heidelberg 78, 7. Huntington 39, 8. Capital 32.5, 9. Findlay 24.5, 10. Bluffton 19, 11. Wittenberg 17, 12. Ohio State Running Club 16, 13. Defiance 6, 14. Bowling Green Track Club 2
