WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Wittenberg indoor track and field teams saw five school records set in a phenomenal outing at the All-Ohio Championships hosted by Otterbein University on Saturday.
A small contingent meant that the Tigers stood little chance at a satisfying team result, but the individual performances more than made up for the men's solid eighth-place finish among 19 teams and the women's 11th-place finish among 18 teams.
Sophomore Aaron Melsop (Westerville, Ohio/DeSales) led the individual achievements off with a school record and a second-place finish in the long jump with a distance of 7.05 meters (23-1.75).
Senior Victor Banjo (Sugarland, Texas/Stephen F. Austin) posted school, meet and facility records to win both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash in one of his most outstanding days yet in the Red & White. He posted a final time of 6.85 seconds in the 60-meter dash and 22.15 seconds in the 200-meter dash, breaking his own school records in both instances.
Laike Wallace (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) also broke his own school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.67 in the finals of the event.
Melsop and Banjo combined with freshman Eric Hood (River View, Fla./East Bay) and sophomore Justin Fisher (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) in the 4x200-meter relay to finish fourth on a time of 1:32.35.
The women's 4x200-meter relay team matched the men's with fourth-place honors. The crew included sophomore Brea Medlock (Galena, Ohio/Big Walnut), freshman Frankie Bowsher (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln), sophomore Jordan Crow (North Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde), freshman Alaina Longshore (Columbus, Ohio/Franklin Heights), who put together a run of 1:47.28. The very same crew went on to set a new school record in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:06.36 to round out the five school records set at the meet.
Also contributing was sophomore Becah Delp (York, Pa./Eastern York), who finished sixth in the high jump and fifth in the long jump.
The Tigers next head to the Buckeye Tune-Up hosted by the Ohio State University on Friday, Feb. 21.
John Strawn '07