Men's Track & Field claims team runner-up honors at Emory (Ga.) Classic
By Blake Moore
ATLANTA, Ga. — The Ohio Northern men's track and field program concluded its two-day stay at the Emory (Ga.) Classic on Saturday, ending second overall in the 23-team meet held at the Woodruff P.E. Center Track in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Polar Bears posted 80 total points over the weekend to secure the runner-up honors. NCAA Division II foe Tiffin won the meet with 146 team points while Lee (Tenn.) tallied 68 points to round out the top-three programs.
Northern improves to 33-2 overall in the 2019 outdoor season with their efforts Friday and Saturday.
Six athletes earned points on Saturday after finishing among the top-eight performers in their respective events.
Freshman Caden Sauerbrey (Dresden/Tri-Valley) headlined the individual efforts after claiming the 5,000-meter run title. The event, which was split into three heats over the weekend, began Friday evening when Sauerbrey won the first heat in 15:19.58. He would officially secure the title Saturday after no competitor in the remaining two heats could best his top mark.
In addition, senior All-American Ian McVey (Stow/Munroe Falls) posted a second-place effort in the 1,500-meter run. The Stow product clocked a 4:01.30 for the runner-up honors, dropping a tight-knit race with Lee's Jared Herzog who finished in 4:01.27.
Freshmen Michael Mustari (Fort Meyers, Fla./Dunbar) and Nate Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela Saint Joseph) secured the final top-eight finishes on the track in the 110-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash competitions with :15.38 and :22.23 efforts, respectively.
In the field, sophomore Matt Bradshaw (Cleveland/Norton) continued his impressive season in the discus with a third-place mark in a 31-person field. After setting a career-best last weekend, the second-year thrower hurled the discus 45.35 meters on Saturday.
Additionally, freshman pole vaulter Luke Shellhaas (Greenville/Versailles) took fifth in the event after clearing 4.30 meters.
The Polar Bears will return to the track next Saturday, April 6 with a trip to the Oberlin Invitational.