Corey Weber
CEDARVILLE, Ohio - The Wittenberg track and field teams made strong showings at Cedarville's Yellow Jacket Collegiate Invitational, the men finishing 4th of 12 teams and the women 6th in a field of 10.
A slew of great finishes led the men to one of their best meets of the year, including two first-place marks. Junior Erik Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Country Day) had a wonderful day, taking first place in the long jump with a distance of 20-00.25 feet, second in the triple jump at 41-11.50 feet, and fourth in the high jump, with a height of 5-07.00 feet. With these finishes, Larkin single-handedly accounted for 26 of the Tigers' 95 team points.
Freshman Corey Weber (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) nabbed a second-place spot in the javelin, while junior Ryan Resides (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) backed him up with a fourth-place finish in the same event. Wittenberg's other solid field event featured a fourth-place finish from sophomore Mat Guida (LaGrange, Ky./Oldham County) in the discus.
Senior Mike Echols (Springfield, Ohio/North) posted a fifth-place mark in the 3000-meter steeplechase, and junior Gabe Savage (Lewisburg, Ohio/Tri-County North) notched another blue-ribbon performance in the 1500-meter run, followed by a fifth-place time in the 800-meter run. The success continued with sophomoreAdam Roberts (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee), as he cruised to a silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles.
In women's action, freshman Kaitlyn Wesseler (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne) led the way with her fourth-place pole vault performance. Junior Katie McIlvain (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) checked in with a fifth-place mark in the 1500-meter run, and junior Tara Osborne (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) chipped in with a fifth-place 400-meter dash.
The teams next pack for an invitational meet at Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday, April 5, in Delaware, Ohio.
Written by: John Strawn