Dean breaks ONU, OAC records in 400 meters as Men’s Outdoor Track and Field posts 7 top-8 finishes to sit tied for fifth after Day 1 of OAC Championships

By Wes Mayberry

ALLIANCE — Sophomore Jordan Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela Saint Joseph) had a record-setting performance as the Ohio Northern men's outdoor track and field team posted seven top-eight finishes Thursday to sit in a tie for fifth place after Day 1 of the OAC Championships at Kehres Stadium.

The Polar Bears (20-4 overall) scored 24 points to tie Wilmington for fifth place in the 10-team standings after seven of 21 events.

Mount Union leads the standings with 75 points, John Carroll is second with 54 points, Otterbein is third with 35 points, and Capital is fourth with 29 points.

Dean highlighted the day by running a time of :47.24 in the preliminaries for the 400-meter dash. He broke his own ONU record of :47.38 and also broke the prior OAC Championships record of :47.57, which was set by John Carroll's George Sample in 2001.

Senior Hunter Kesler (Oakwood/Paulding) also qualified for Friday's 400-meter finals, running a personal-best :48.97, which ranks eighth all-time at ONU.

Kesler will also be a finalist in the 200 meters after running a personal-best :21.76 in his preliminary race. That time ranks eighth all-time at ONU.

Senior Ollie Jacobs (DeGraff/Riverside) will join Kesler in the 200 finals after running a preliminary time of :22.00, and he also advanced to the 100-meter finals with a time of :10.90.

Three other Polar Bears qualified for the finals of their respective events.

Sophomores Tyrese Barker (Columbus/Bishop Hartley) and Landon Remmert (Marengo/Highland) advanced to the 110-meter hurdles finals with respective times of :15.26 and :15.79, and senior Vini Souza (Spencerville) qualified for the 100-meter finals with a time of :10.83.

In scoring events on Thursday, junior Tommy Vetrovsky (Sagamore Hills/Nordonia) led the way for the Polar Bears with a fourth-place finish in the javelin with a mark of 47.16 meters.

The 4x800 relay team of seniors Alan Dravenstott (Medina) and Brooks Blakeley (Versailles), freshman Jacob Clouse (Alvada/New Riegel) and sophomore Ryan Massie (Beavercreek) finished fourth in 7:54.87.

Senior Brandt Marshall (Orange Township/Cory-Rawson) was fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 4.21 meters.

Senior Breydan Hann (Wooster) finished sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 9:35.48, which ranks seventh all-time at ONU.

Sophomore Trey Masterson (Tiffin/Hopewell-Loudon) was sixth in the 10,000 meters, running a personal-best time of 31:42.66, which ranks eighth all-time at ONU. Junior Kyle Roth (Rockford/Parkway) finished eighth in the event in 32:01.16.

Senior Nick Tangeman (Maria Stein/Marion Local) rounded out ONU's top-eight finishes with a sixth-place showing in the long jump with a mark of 6.65 meters.

The top three finishers in each event earn All-OAC honors, and the top eight score team points.

The 2023 OAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships conclude on Friday.