Sophomore Keegan Digby breaks 35-year old school record in the shot put as Men’s Outdoor Track and Field wins Mike Becraft Invitational

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — Sophomore Keegan Digby (Bowling Green/Otsego) broke a 35-year old school record in the shot put on Saturday to lead the Ohio Northern men's outdoor track and field team to a first-place finish in the Mike Becraft Invitational at Kerscher Stadium.

Digby's mark of 16.34 meters broke the previous school-record mark of 15.74 meters set by Jim Shaw in 1987 and currently ranks fourth in the country.

The Polar Bears (10-0) posted first-place finishes in five other events and scored 203 points to finish on top of the 11-team field in the two-day meet.

Tiffin finished second with 152 points, and Albion (Mich.) rounded out the top three with 73 points.

The top eight finishers in each event scored points for their team.

Senior Andrew Buderer (Oak Harbor) won the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.42 meters.

Junior Nick Tangeman (Maria Stein/Marion Local) won the triple jump with a mark of 13.25 meters.

Freshman Jordan Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela Saint Joseph) won the 400 meters, running a time of :48.45, and he was the top scorer in the 200 meters, finishing second behind an exhibition runner with a time of :21.72.

ONU's 4x400 relay team of junior Hunter Kesler (Oakwood/Paulding), sophomores David Gross (Prospect/Pleasant Local) and Tyler St. Onge (Litchfield, N.H./Campbell) and freshman Mitchel Vance (Bellefontaine) placed first with a time of 3:26.14.

Northern also had six other top-three finishes.

Sophomore Zach DeBord (Mount Vernon/Highland) was second in the discus throw with a distance of 40.71 meters, and senior Luke Shellhaas (Greenville/Versailles) placed second in the pole vault with a height of 4.42 meters.

ONU's 4x100 relay team of Kesler, Dean, Buderer and sophomore Gabe Hensley (Lebanon) also placed second, running a time of :42.56.

Tangeman was third in the long jump, posting a distance of 6.63 meters, and sophomore Brandon Wise was third in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.12 meters.

Sophomore Trey Myers (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) placed third in the 400 meters with a time of :50.07.

Freshman Ozzie Miller (Dalton) was fourth in the 100 meters with a time of :10.96, freshman Ryan Massie (Beavercreek) was fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 1:58.66, and fifth-year senior Travis Sutter (Sharpsburg/Ft. Recovery) was fourth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:19.70.

Northern got fifth-place finishes courtesy of Kesler, fifth-year senior Jack Lehr (York, Pa./Dallastown), senior Dylan McKean (Warren/Champion), junior Brandt Marshall (Hancock County/Cory-Rawson) and the 4x100 relay team.

Kesler was fifth in the 200 meters with a time of :21.89, Lehr was fifth in the discus throw with a mark of 39.27 meters, McKean was fifth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:32.18, and Marshall was fifth in the pole vault with a height of 4.02 meters.

The 4x100 relay team of Miller, senior Nate Dean (Euclid/ Villa Angela-Saint Joseph), junior Brandon Berry (Wickliffe) and freshman Jacob Kreger (Granville) placed fifth with a time of :43.23.

The Polar Bears posted 14 additional top-8 finishes on Saturday as part of its team championship.

ONU will return to action on Friday and Saturday at the Hillsdale (Mich.) Relays.