Granville, OH- The Tigers travelled to Denison University for the Bob Shannon Invite as a team with both the men and women taking home third place finishes as a team.
The Women: Hannah Eley picked up a fifth place finish in the women's weight throw with a distance of 14.04m in the finals. Alexis Johnson grabbed a fourth place finish in the high jump after going for 1.55m. Leah Vogt picked up the ladies first third place finish of the day in the shot put and a distance of 11.37m. Johnson was able to come back later in the day to pick up a first place finish in the triple jump and a distance of 10.38m to end the women's field events. Ryelee Clary picked up Wittenberg's first top spot of the day in the running events, placing first in the 60m hurdles and a time of 9.22 seconds in the prelims before coming back to grab first in the finals and a time of 9.38. Following Clary was Tiffany Moss in third place in the final 60m hurdles and a time of 9.66 seconds. The women picked up a second place finish in the 4x200 with a time of 1:48.17, beating out Thomas More, Kenyon and Muskingum. Alexis Walker picked up another first place finish for Wittenberg with a time of 8.13 in the 60 meter. Lauren Welker grabbed another third place finish and six points for the Tigers in the 800 meter with a time of 2:27.90. Freshman, Seraye Bray, beat out 21 competitors to place fifth in the 200 meter with a time of 28.47.
The women are currently ranked number 21 in Division III by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
The Men: Jaycee Perry got the ball rolling for Wittenberg with a first place finish in the high jump with a height of 1.90m, Gene Nobles followed in third place with a height of 1.85m. Johnathan Seay picked up another third place finish for the men in the weight throw after he threw for 13.88m and beat out 17 competitors. Seay came back later in the shot put with a distance of 14.37m and a second place finish. The Tigers first top place in the running events came in the 4x200 with a second place finish and time of 1:32.98 to give them eight points and put them in fourth place. Austyn Albanese and Ian McCandlish were able to give the Tigers eleven points in the 400 meter with third (Albanese- 51.86) and fourth (McCandlish- 52.22) finishes. Senior, Tyler Branton, helped out the Tigers in the 60m with a fifth place finish and time of 7.27. The Tigers picked up another fourth and fifth place finish in the 200 meter from Ezekiel Bennett (fourth) with a time of 23.35 and Albanese (fifth) at 23.41. Cullen Sainey crossed the line in fourth place for the 3000 meter and a time of 9:22.89 to add points to the Tigers overall score to keep them in third. Wittenberg picked up another second place finish to end the night in the 4x400 with a time of 3:31.54.
Up Next: Wittenberg will travel to Westerville, OH for the All-Ohio Championships at Otterbein University on Saturday, February 15th starting at 11 AM.