CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The Wittenberg track and field teams are in the home stretch of preparations for the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, and the efforts are paying off as the men and women posted solid results at Cedarville and Ohio State.
The men's team ran at both the Cedarville Invitational, where it finished seventh out of 14 teams, and sent a small contingent to the non-scoring Ohio State Jesse Owens Invitational.
The Tiger women went just to the Cedarville Invitational and came back with an impressive third-place finish and a handful of first-place honors to show for it.
Freshman Aaron Melsop (Westerville, Ohio/DeSales) scored a second-place finish in the long jump with a height of 6.54 meters and freshman Justin Fisher (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) went 12.91 meters in the triple jump to also take second. Those results led the way for the men, while freshman Daniel Mason (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon) picked up a personal record in the hammer throw at a distance of 36.18 meters.
At Ohio State, junior Victor Banjo (Sugarland, Texas/Stephen F. Austin) ran the 100-meter dash and a team competed in the 4x400 meter relay.
Heading into the final weeks of the season, four events have earned a top-50 national ranking in NCAA Division III. The highest is sophomore Justin Yates (Dayton, Ohio/Bellbrook), who ranks 12th in the 400-meter dash on a time of 48.47 turned in at the All-Ohio Championships on April 13.
Also appearing on the list are Banjo's 27th-ranked 10.84 100-meter dash at Ohio Wesleyan on April 6, freshman Laike Wallace (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington Court House) and his 42nd-ranked 55.47 time in the 400-meter hurdles, also at Ohio Wesleyan on April 6, and the 18th-ranked 4x400 relay team of Wallace, Yates, junior Chris Frierson (Cedar Hill, Texas/DeSoto) and freshman Asanka Ekayanake (Clarksburg, Mo./Clarksburg), who ran a 3:18.11 at the All-Ohio Championships.
The women had a tremendous meet at Cedarville, starting with two individual victories and a personal record. Freshman Becah Delp (York, Pa./Eastern York) won the high jump at a career-best 1.57 meters, and senior Shawna Johnson (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) claimed first in the 100-meter dash on a flat 13 seconds.
Rounding out event winners was the 4x100-meter relay team of Johnson, junior Cara Vendeville (Perry, Ohio/Perry), freshman Brea Medlock (Galena, Ohio/Big Walnut) and junior Vanessa Ladd (Columbus, Ohio/Marion Franklin), who turned in a time of 50.95 seconds for the victory. Johnson, Delp, Medlock and freshman Jordan Crow (North Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde) went on to place second in the 4x400-meter relay.
Other top individual finishes included Medlock's 400-meter dash time of 1:00.89, good for third place, Crow's 400-meter hurdles time of 1:09.90 for third place, and Ladd's fourth-place showing in the 100-meter dash.
The Tigers will send a contingent to the Denison Big Red Invitational on Friday, while some of the focus remains on the upcoming conference championships which kick off with the heptathlon and pentathlon on Saturday, April 27, and Sunday, April 28, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan.
John Strawn '07