4x800-meter relay team caps off strong first day for Men's Outdoor Track & Field at OAC Championships
By Caleb Scott
ADA — The 4x800-meter relay team of junior Ian McVey (Stow/Munroe Falls), sophomore Andrew Shelton (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) and seniors Alec Lunney (Middleburg Heights/Berea-Midpark) and Matt Molinaro (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle) capped off a solid start for the Ohio Northern men's outdoor track and field team on day one of the 2018 OAC Championships at Kerscher Stadium.
The Polar Bears are currently in third place with 25 points.
McVey, Shelton, Lunney and Molinaro gave Northern a big momentum boost heading into the final day of the championships as they won the 4x800-meter relay in 7:56.73.
Senior Samuel Boyd (Killbuck/West Holmes) added a fifth place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:39.66, while freshman Donald Gaylord II (Ashtabula/Lakeside) added a sixth place finish for Northern in the pole vault with a leap of 12' 6".
Junior All-OAC distance runner Spencer Schulze (St. Henry) was solid in the 10,000-meter run, posting a fifth place finish in the event in 32:39.36.
In the discus throw, freshman Matt Bradshaw (Norton) got Northern on the board first, posting an eighth place finish in the event with a toss of 142' 7".
In the 110-meter hurdles, freshman Owen Lloyd (Colfax, Ind./Clinton Prairie) qualified for Saturday's finals with an eighth place finish in :15.79, while sophomore Jared Butcher (Mechanicsburg) qualified for Saturday's finals in the 400-meter dash with a seventh place finish in the preliminaries in :50.12
"Winning the 4x800 was big for us," said head coach Jason Maus. "We had some ups and downs today. We are a little banged up but I'm proud of how our guys competed. There are some places that we need to be better but overall I think we competed well. Donnie scored in the pole vault and Matt gave us some points in the discus which is great for us. We need to turn it up a little bit tomorrow and come ready to compete. This meet brings out the best in everyone so we have to be ready and focused tomorrow."
The Polar Bears will return to action tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with the men's shot put.
