Andy Karcher
WILMINGTON, Ohio — The weather finally broke, and the Wittenberg Tigers took nearly full advantage of the welcome sunshine with a pair of strong finishes at the Wilmington Invitational.
On the men's side, Wittenberg had a full squad on hand for the first time in the outdoor season and it showed as the Tigers placed second in the nine-team field. For the women, most of the Tigers' top performers were on hand and competing well as Wittenberg finished sixth in an eight-team field.
The men had top three finishes up and down the results sheet, including a trio of firsts. Senior Andy Karcher (Oceola, Ohio/Bucyrus Wynford) held down the top spot in the hammer throw, freshman Curt Weidner (Cleves, Ohio/Harrison) paced the field in the 110-meter hurdles and sophomore Erik Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Country Day) finished atop the standings in the triple jump.
Larkin had a fine all-around day, adding a second in the long jump and a third in the high jump. In addition, freshman Matt Guida (LaGrange, Ky./Oldham County)finished third in both the discus and javelin, freshman Adam Roberts (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) placed third in the 110 hurdles and second in the 400 hurdles, sophomore Gabe Savage (Lewisburg, Ohio/Tri-County North) contributed strong third-place runs in both the 800 and 1500 and junior Mike Echols (Springfield, Ohio/North) rounded things out with a third in the 3000 steeplechase.
The women were paced by a pair of outstanding races run by sophomore Katie Shoemaker (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin-Monroe), who placed first in the 400 and second in the 200. Junior Allison Walker (Columbus, Ohio/Academy) added a second in the hammer.