GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Wittenberg men's and women's track and field teams struck out for Denison and the Big Red Invitational on Friday, bringing back some solid performances at the non-scoring event.
The Tigers competed against fields of seven teams for the women and eight teams for the men, though the bulk of the participants represented five North Coast Athletic Conference institutions: Denison, Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg and Wooster.
Headlining the women's outing was freshman Becah Delp (York, Pa./Eastern York), who captured first place in the 100-meter hurdles on a time of 16.18 seconds and the long jump at a distance of 5.11 meters, second place in the high jump with a height of 1.58 meters, and third in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:11.67.
Junior Beverly Ochieng (Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) was also a winner for the Tigers with a 10.93-meter triple jump, and the 4x100-meter relay team of senior Shawna Johnson (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont), junior Cara Vendeville (Perry, Ohio/Perry), freshman Brea Medlock (Galena, Ohio/Big Walnut) and junior Vanessa Ladd (Columbus, Ohio/Marion Franklin) took first on a time of 49.33.
Medlock went on to take third in the 100-meter dash, followed by Johnson in fourth and Ladd in fifth. Vendeville also added a third-place long jump at 4.92 meters.
Freshman Jordan Crow (North Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde) turned in a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles on a time of 17.18 and also landed a fifth-place finish in the 200-meter dash, while senior Kaileigh Bible (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) turned in a third-place finish in the pole vault at 2.60 meters.
For the men, junior Victor Banjo (Sugarland, Texas/Stephen F. Austin) won the 100-meter dash on a time of 11.08 seconds and cruised to a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash at 22.54. He then anchored the winning 4x100-meter relay, teaming up with junior Chris Frierson (Cedar Hill, Texas/DeSoto), sophomore Justin Yates (Dayton, Ohio/Bellbrook) and freshman Justin Fisher (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) for a time of 42.61, which is good enough to get the team into the top 50 across NCAA Division III.
On the distance side, senior Trevor Grandy (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) won the 3,000-meter run on a time of 9:08.16, and freshman Laike Wallace (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington Court House) won the 400-meter hurdles with a final time of 55.61 and went on to take second in the 110-meter hurdles. Freshman Aaron Melsop (Westerville, Ohio/DeSales) rounded out the Tiger victors with a long jump of 6.75 meters, also posting a third-place finish in the high jump at 1.76 meters.
Freshman Asanka Ekanayake (Clarksburg, Mo./Clarksburg) represented the Tigers with a second-place showing in the 400-meter dash on a time of 50.87, as did senior Raphael Allen (Springfield, Ohio/Yellow Springs) with a long jump of 6.71 meters and Fisher on a triple jump of 13.32 meters. Fisher added a third-place finish in the long jump at 6.28 meters, followed by Allen in third at 12.79.
Freshman Daniel Mason (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon) threw a personal best 36.18 meters in the hammer throw last week at Cedarville, and re-upped with another personal record and a fourth-place finish at 38.39 meters.
The Tigers will sit out the NCAC pentathlon and heptathlon this weekend, instead resting up for the conference championship meet on Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4.
John Strawn '07