Tiger Track & Field Excels, Celebrates Seniors At Steemer Showcase

Wittenberg Track and Field Seniors and Families
Wittenberg Track and Field Seniors 2024 with their families.

Springfield, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tiger Track and Field Teams hosted the Steemer Showcase with a strong field that consisted of teams from across all three NCAA divisions. The Tigers showed up to defend their home turf, taking second on the men's side behind only NCAA Division II scholarship program, Tiffin University, and the Tigers women finished third with 90 points.

Before the meet, 12 Tigers were celebrated on Senior Recognition Day: Ian McCandlish, Peter Caine, Chance Keller, Sam Callinan, Matthew Rogers, Zeke Bennett, JJ Weisenberger, Dominic Cork, Anthony Bland, Matthew Drovdlic, and Jack Houck.

Leading the charge for the men:

  • Jeremy Watson (Sugar Grove, OH) broke the indoor pole vault record clearing 4.55 meters. The Tigers also scored points in their event from a fourth-place finish by Sam Callinan (Kettering, OH), and a sixth-place finish by Kane Cissell (LaGrange, KY)
  • Grayson Ring (Tipp City, OH) was second in high jump with a 1.97 jump. Justin Norris (Middletown, OH) added an additional eighth place finish as well.
  • JJ Weisenberger (Collins, OH) finished fourth in long jump with a mark of 6.92 meters.
  • Conor Kolka (Dexter, MI) improved his own school record in the 3,000-meter run with a new time of 8:19.88 and fifth overall.
  • Lukas Rieben (Clayton, OH) ran 15:23.39 for fifth place in the 5,000-meter run.
  • The 4x200 meter relay team of Weisenberger, Matthew Drovdlic (Hilliard, OH), Neal Godfrey (Columbus, OH), and Matthew Rogers (Leander, TX) finished second in a time of 1:30.38.
  • Cameron Elliott (Springfield, OH) finished seventh in the 400-meter dash in a time of 49.02 seconds.
  • In the 500-meter dash, Zeke Bennett (Hilliard, OH) finished first in 1:07.45, Luke Amburgey (LaGrange, KY) was fifth, and Chance Keller (Heath, OH) was sixth.
  • Ian McCandlish (Lancaster, OH) was sixth in the 800-meter run in 1:55.16.
  • The 4x400 meter relay team of McCandlish, Zayden Taylor (Springfield, OH), Blaize Johnson (Wilmington, OH), and Mason Duncan (Cardington, OH) ran 3:27.79 for a third-place finish.

On the women's side:

  • Emma Hawk (Marion, OH) took the win in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:01.15. Megan Keys (Dublin, OH) was fourth, Maddi Clark (Mentor, OH), and Mackenzie Kelley (Altoona, PA) was seventh.
  • Reese Neumeyer (Whitehouse, OH) finished sixth overall in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 9.48 seconds.
  • Tymeerah De'Armond (Springfield, OH) was fourth in the 400-meter dash in a time of 58.43 seconds.
  • Hallie Haines (Hillsboro, OH) and Mike Kwaaitaal (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) competed in the 500-meter dash finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
  • In the 60-meter dash, Zora Shakhan (Pickerington, OH) was seventh in 7.95 seconds, and Haleigh Willison (Crooksville, OH) was eighth in 7.97 seconds. Willison then doubled back in the 200-meter dash to add a fifth-place finish in 26.25 seconds.
  • The 4x400 meter relay team of DeYanna Champion (Dayton, OH), Delaney Tackett (Waverly, OH), Abbey Danne (Johnstown, OH), and De'Armond finished third in 4:05.86.
  • Aidan Orth (Cincinnati, OH) was fifth in weight throw with a throw of 14.75 meters.
  • Tiffany Hix (Prospect, OH) tied for fourth in pole vault with a mark of 3.35 meters. Story Laing (Granville, OH) tied for eighth with 3.05 meters.
  • Once again, the high jump duo of Julissa Williams (Lorain, OH) and Taylor Weiss (Powell, OH) go one and two in the high jump. Williams with a jump of 1.67 meters, Weiss 1.64 meters.
  • Jenna Delp (Canton, OH) earned a second-place finish in long jump with a jump of 5.54 meters.
  • Hix double backed for a fifth-place triple jump finish with a mark of 10.23 meters.

The Tigers will return to the track in hopes of continuing their successful season at the Cedarville Invite on Friday, February 2.