Men's Track & Field finish 3rd at the 2011 OAC Outdoor Championship
ALLIANCE — The men's track and field team tallied five event champions and 15 All-OAC honorees en route to a third finish at the 2011 OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship, hosted by Mount Union in Alliance.
The Polar Bears finished with 123 points, behind team champion Mount Union's 151 points and Baldwin-Wallace's 126.5 points. Rounding out the top 5 team finishes were Heidelberg in fourth place with 99 points and Marietta with 84.
Junior Dan Smith (Avon) was named Jim Wuske Co-Men's Distance of the Meet along with Mount Union's Dan Whisler. Smith won the men's 5,000-meter run in 15:00.85 and took fourth in the 1,500 run in 3:59.20.
In addition to Justin Dickman's 10,000-meter crown and the 4x800 relay team's crowns yesterday, juniors Jacob Schwab (Willard/Monroeville) and Cory Bailey (Loveland) also earned OAC Champion status following Saturday's events.
Schwab took the tape in the 400-meter dash in 48.68, while Bailey earned first in the 800 run in 1:55.28.
Senior Ryan Fleming notched two All-OAC awards, with a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash in 10.96 and then joined Schwab, freshman Francisque Pierre-Jerome (Lauderhill, Fla./South Plantation) and senior Evan Heyman (Norwalk/Monroeville) in the 4x100 relay. The squad earned second place in 41.98.
Senior Garrett Brown (Atwater/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) not only earned an All-OAC honor but also a NCAA provisional mark in the 400-meter hurdles finishing in a season-best 54.17.
Also earning All-Conference honors was sophomore Ben Ankrom (Circleville) with a third place finish in the 1,500 run in 3:55.45.
The Polar Bears continue competition as the team travels north for the Toledo Tune up next Friday, May 6.
OAC Team Finishes
- Mount Union - 151
- Baldwin-Wallace - 126.5
- Ohio Northern - 123
- Heidelberg - 99
- Marietta - 84
- Otterbein - 62
- Muskingum - 60
- Wilmington - 50
- John Carroll - 37
- Capital - 25.5