Men's Track and Field posts second place finish on Senior Day at Polar Bear Invitational
By Caleb Scott
ADA — The Ohio Northern outdoor men's track and field team posted a second place finish at the annual Polar Bear Invitational to celebrate Senior Day at Kerscher Stadium.
The Polar Bears improve to 57-15 overall.
ONU recognized seniors A.J. Cody (Findlay/Liberty-Benton), Eric Collins (Strongsville), Cully Gordon (Holmesville/West Holmes), Andrew Harden (Dayton/Vandalia-Butler), Matthew Hommer (Swartz Creek, Mich./Lake Fenton), Evan Murtha (Pickerington/North), Cameron Rusnak (Lorain/Open Door Christian), Kase Schalois (Van Wert), Lucas Shumate (Wapakoneta/Spencerville) and Adam Smith (Rocky River).
Northern was led by freshman Jacob Vires (Monroe) as he finished first in the 100-meter dash in :10.97.
In the 400-meter dash freshman Jared Butcher (Mechanicsburg) posted a second place finish in :51.83, while freshman Cody Benny (Wapakoneta) finished fifth in :53.03.
Freshman Andrew Shelton (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) led a 3-4-5 finish in the 800-meter run, finishing in 2:02.37.
Murtha inished fourth in the event in 2:02.61, while Gordon finished fifth in 2:03.09.
In the 1,500-meter run, freshman Wyatt Stahl (Lima/Bath) claimed a top-5 finish as he finished fifth in 4:20.79.
Sophomore Dominic Solis (Upper Sandusky) posted a second place finish in the 5,000-meter run in 16:18.16, while freshman Kyle Neff (Sagamore Hills/Walsh Jesuit) rounded out the top four in 16:54.59.
Freshman Brian Ruffini (Dennison/Claymont) posted a top-3 finish in the 110-meter hurdles as he finished third in :15.89.
In the 400-meter hurdles, junior Brandon Emert (Brunswick) finished second in :57.84, while freshman Michael Shilling (Bowling Green) finished fifth in 1:01.26.
Sophomore Auston Davenport (Russiaville, Ind./Western) posted a top-3 finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as he finished third in 10:55.48.
Junior Alexander Sibila (Zionsville, Ind.) finished third in the high jump, clearing 6' 4.00", while freshman David Harvey (Mechanicsburg) finished fourth in the event with a leap of 6' 2.00".
Smith claimed a third place finish in the pole vault, clearing 12' 11.75".
In the triple jump, freshman Noah McKee (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) posted a third place finish with a leap of 39' 7.25".
Shumate added a fourth place finish for Northern in the hammer throw with a toss of 180' 3.00".
The 4x400-meter relay team of Sibila, Emert, Vires and Benny wrapped up the meet with a third place finish in 3:36.49.
The Polar Bears return to the track Apr. 28-29 as they compete at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships in New Concord on the campus of Muskingum.
