Men's Indoor Track & Field opens 2017 season with second place finish at OAC North Split Meet

By Caleb Scott

ADA —  The Ohio Northern men's track and field team opened the 2017 indoor season with a second place finish at the Ohio Athletic Conference North Split Meet Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.

Sophomore Ian McVey (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) posted two first place finishes and led the Polar Bears as he finished first in the 1-mile run in 4:23.34 and took first place in the 1,000-meter run in 2:36.67.

Senior Lucas Shumate (Wapakoneta/Spencerville) posted a first place finish in the weight throw with a toss of 55' 9.25".

In the 500-meter run, junior Matt Molinaro (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle) took first place in 1:06.34.

Senior Kase Schalois (Van Wert) finished first in the 5,000-meter run in 15:25.56, while junior Bobby Borger (Perrysburg) took second place in 15:55.12.

In the distance medley relay, the team of freshmen Riley Lamison (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area), Michael Ross (Hinckley/Highland), Andrew Shelton (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) and junior Alec Lunney (Middleburg Heights/Berea-Midpark) took second place in 10:52.01.

Lunney also finished second in the 800-meter run in 2:04.43.

Northern posted a 2-3 finish in the 3,000-meter run as junior Samuel Boyd (Killbuck/West Holmes) finished second in 8:57.46 and senior Cully Gordon (Holmesville/West Holmes) took third in 8:57.91.

In the 4x200-meter relay, the team of junior Brandon Emert (Brunswick), and freshmen Brian Ruffini (Dennison/Claymont), Luke Sommer (Magnolia/Sandy Valley) and Sean McGill (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar) finished second in 1:36.99.

Sommer also took third place for the Polar Bears in the high jump with a leap of 6' 6".

In the 60-meter dash freshman Jacob Vires (Monroe) finished third in :7.09 seconds.

Freshman David Harvey (Mechanicsburg) took third place in the triple jump with a leap of 39' 10".

The team of junior Conner Karg (West Liberty/Salem), sophomore Corey Briggs (Lima/Bath) and freshmen Alex Marsch (Orwell/Grand Valley) and Jared Butcher (Mechanicsburg) capped the meet off with a third place finish in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:34.22.

"This was a great way to start the season," said head coach Jason Maus. "It was good for everyone to get the nerves out and get the young guys a taste of good competition. We had a lot of good performances and saw a lot of younger guys step up for us today."

The Polar Bears will return to the track Jan. 28 as they travel to and compete at the Grand Valley State (Mich.) Invitational.

Team Results

1. Mount Union 209, 2. Ohio Northern 148, 3. Heidelberg 80, 4. Baldwin Wallace 74, 5. John Carroll 63