*Story by David Wahl III
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's track & field team tied with Capital University for sixth out of 10 teams racking up 26 points at the OAC Elite Meet, two points shy of a top-five finish on Sunday.
The Fightin' Quakers were led by sophomore Simon Heys, who won the 3,000-meter run (8:26.73). This performance, which scored 10 points for the team, breaks the previous Wilmington school record in the event.
Senior Joe Shuga competed in both the shot and weight throw, placing fifth in shot put with a heave of 44' 8". Sophomore Blake Jamison also competed in shot put and placed fourth with a toss of 45' 7". Wilmington had two scoring finishes in the weight throw with junior Andrew Pacifico whirled of 51' 4" to take fifth and sophomore Nate Marcum finished close behind in seventh sending the weight 50' 3".
Rounding off the scoring for Wilmington was Anthony Gilmore in the high jump, placing eighth with a jump of 6' 1".
Both Evan Whitaker (15:50.86) and George Rickett (15:47.64) competed in a stacked field in the 5,000-meter run.
"With having a limited squad, I felt we had some great performances," Head Men's Track & Field Coach Ron Combs commented. "We are focused on preparing all of our athletes for the OAC meet in three weeks. Overall, it was a great week, and we are ready to keep working towards placing higher than last year's conference finish."
Wilmington returns to Capital for the third time this season next week.
