Sophomore Matt Molinaro leads Men's Track & Field to fifth place finish at All-Ohio Championships

By Caleb Scott

WESTERVILLE -- Sophomore Matt Molinaro led the Ohio Northern men's track and field team as they finished fifth of 17 teams at the All-Ohio Championships Saturday afternoon in Westerville. 

The Polar Bears improve to 43-11 on the year.

Molinaro took first place in the 800-meter run in 1:52.64 and broke the All-Ohio Championships meet record, previously held by former Polar Bear Jimmy O'Brien.

Molinaro also recorded the third fastest time nationally in the event among DIII schools. 

Northern had two athletes finish in the top-5 in the 5,000-meter run as juniors Kase Schalois and Cully Gordon took fourth and fifth place in 15:05.87 and 15:24.83, respectively. 

Senior Christian Rupe finished fourth in the 200-meter dash in :22.54.

Rupe also finished seventh in the 60-meter dash in :7.05. 

In the 4x200-meter relay the team of Rupe, senior Denorris Turner, junior Matthew Hommer and freshman Nicholas Krugh finished fourth in 1:32.15.

Freshman Ian McVey took fourth place in the 1 mile run in 4:23.10, while junior Andrew Harden finished fifth in 4:26.13.

Junior Ian McKee took tenth place in the 800-meter run in 1:58.87.

In the 3,000-meter run, sophomore Bobby Borger took sixth with a time of 8:53.11, senior Eric Wymer claimed seventh with a time of 8:54.58, and sophomore Samuel Boyd took tenth 8:58.37.

Senior Robbie Brinkman finished seventh in triple jump of 41 feet .50 inches.

Senior Brandon Ike took third place in pole vault with a vault of 14 feet 6 inches. 

In the weight throw, junior Lucas Shumate took second place with a throw of 56 feet 7.50 inches. 

Northern concluded the meet with a seventh place finish in the 4x400-meter relay as Molinaro, McKee, sophomores Brandon Emert and Conner Karg finished in 3:28.83.

Northern will return to action Saturday as they travel to Columbus to compete in the Rick Meindl Last Call meet.

Team Results

1. Mount Union 118, 2. Ohio Wesleyan 96, 3. Baldwin Wallace 92, 4. Otterbein 81, 5. Ohio Northern 63.50, t6. John Carroll 53, t6. Case Western 53, 8. Heidelberg 29.50, 9. Capital 27, 10. Wittenberg 21, 11. Muskingum 20.50, t12. Wooster 11, t12. Denison 11, 14. Wilmington 9, 15. Bluffton 6.50, 16. Kenyon 5, 17. Oberlin 2