BEXLEY, Ohio – The Wilmington College men's track & field team claimed its first team victory of the 2019-20 indoor season by winning the Rick Meindl Invitational hosted by Capital University on Friday evening.
Wilmington finished with 189 points as a team, clearing second-place Capital University by 85 points. In the final indoor tune-up before the 2020 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Fightin' Quakers also beat Marietta College and Muskingum University.
In throwing events, Joe Shuga won the weight throw with a heave of 46' 8 ¾" while also finishing second (44' 3 ½") to teammate Blake Jamison's winning mark of 46' 5 ¼" in the shot put. In jumps, Anthony Gilmore finished second (but still scored 10 points due to an unattached individual finishing first) in the high jump with leap of 6' 2 ¾". Teammate Jeff Clydesdale finished right behind Gilmore with a mark of 6' ¾". Max Queen closed out the Quakers' performances with a 10-point, runner-up finish in the long jump at 21' 5 ¼".
In sprinting events, Aaron Koch's mark of 23.67 seconds in the 200-meter dash placed him third. Additionally, Josh Cyrus, with his time of 2:04.54, finished just over four-tenths of a second behind Lane Wilson of Marietta College in the 800-meter run.
In distance events, Taton Bertsch won the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:38.65 while George Rickett earned his first OAC championships qualifying time of 16:03.50 to win the 5,000-meter run. In the mile run, Simon Heys and Evan Whitaker scored the team 18 points with times of 4:30.42 and 4:35.49 respectively.
Wilmington relays had a banner evening taking all three competitions. Koch, Queen, Gilmore and Adam Knaub won the 4-x-200-meter relay with a time of 1:36.00 while Koch, Knaub and Gilmore teamed up with Clydesdale to cross the finish line in 3:41.49 to win the 4-x-400-meter relay. Finally, Whitaker, Heys, Bertsch and Cyrus beat the field by over 10 seconds by finishing the 4-x-800-meter relay in 8:31.08.
The Quakers head to Marietta for the OAC Indoor Championships next Friday and Saturday.