April 10, 2016

Men's Results  I  Women's Results

DELEWARE, Ohio - Recognizing the weather conditions of Saturday, the Marv Frye Invitational at Ohio Wesleyan University was contested on Sunday. While the morning started off cold, temperatures improved throughout the day to allow for some quality Beaver performances.

Sophomore D’Nae Reese (Columbus/Upper Arlington) had a banner day, setting two school records, both of which well qualified her for the upcoming HCAC and All-Ohio championship meets. Established in 1990, the women’s shot put record went down with Reese’s toss of 39’ 1” (11.91 meters). Earlier in the day, Reese erased the 2002 discus record with a distance of 124’ 3” (37.88 meters). Reese’s performances placed her 2nd out of 20 competitors in the shot and 4th out of 21 women in the discus.

A number of other Beavers qualified for HCAC and All-Ohio as well. In the field, sophomore Erick Benge (Monrovia, Ind./Monrovia) made his qualifying mark in javelin, placing 3rd out of 16 men with a distance of 152’ 00 (46.34 meters). His mark currently leads the HCAC performance list. On the track, in the 110 meter hurdles, sophomore Kyle Knezovich (Utica) ran 16.55 while later in the day he cleared the bar in pole vault at 14’ 4.75”, placing 2nd overall. Over 200 meters, freshman Keturah Warlick (East Point, Mich./Clintondale) and sophomore Sarah Hunter (Mt. Blanchard/Riverdale) both posted qualifiers with 27.46 and 27.08 respectively. Junior Jack Fisher (Norwalk/St. Paul), 4th out of 41, ran 4:08.31 over 1500 meters to post his qualifier while freshman Devony Miller (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) earned her All-Ohio stripes in the same event with a 5:10.32 clocking, good for 7th out of 30 competitors.

Although conditions were windy throughout the day, it did not prevent a number of PR performances from being accomplished. Sophomore Thaddeus Phillips (South Bend, Ind./Riley) did the trick over 200 meters while freshman Devony Miller ran an exciting come-from-behind race in the 800 to produce her best time ever. Freshman Jacob Hill (Dayton/Wayne) and sophomore Miranda Hostettler (Glenmont/West Holmes) posted PRs in the 1500 meter race while freshman Michael Lehman (West Liberty/West Liberty-Salem) did likewise in the 12.5 lap 5000 meter event. It was a quality day in the field as well as senior Aron Gibson (Caledonia/River Valley) posted a pair of qualifiers in the discus and hammer; freshman Morgan Haynes (London) accomplished a hat trick with improved performances in hammer, javelin and shot put; and freshman Sarah Oliver (Lexington) edged out a new best clearance in pole vault. The men’s hammer crew continues to impress, again with three Beavers advancing to the final round, where they placed 6th, 7th and 9th, seniors Edgar Gonzalez (Melvindale, Mich./Melvindale), Aron Gibson and Alex Parker (Alger/Upper Scioto Valley) respectively. Gonzalez has the top hammer performance to date in the HCAC with his fellow competitors all placed well inside the top 10.

“Everyone had to change their mindset about competing on Sunday rather than Saturday,” said Head Coach Karen Brandt, “And once again the team impressed me and rose to the occasion. At no track and field meet does every athlete get on the bus happy at the end of the day. We had our disappointments, whether they were weather-related, being out of synch or just having a bad day, but we had a lot to be excited about as well. We are heading into the latter stages of what is always a too-short outdoor season with the HCAC meet, hosted here at home, where we want everyone to be at their best. For the most part, we are on track to accomplish that.”

The All-Ohio Championship, also hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University, will take place Saturday, April 16.  Field events commence at 11:30 a.m. with track action starting at noon.

-BEAVERS-