GRANVILLE — Junior Conor Kolka (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) and freshman Jayden McKinster (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) won titles in their respective events to lead the Wittenberg men's track and field team on Day 1 of the North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships at Denison on Friday. The Tigers are currently tied for the lead in the nine-team field after seven of 21 events have been scored.

The Basics

• Venue: Piper Stadium - Granville, Ohio
• Wittenberg and Denison lead the team standings with 48 points each. Wabash is third with 39 points.
• The top three finishers in each event earn All-NCAC honors, and the top eight finishers score team points.
• Wittenberg entered Friday's portion of the meet with four points courtesy of a fifth-place finish from senior Sam Callinan (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) in the decathlon on April 27-28.
• Wittenberg is seeking its fifth all-time NCAC outdoor championship and first since 2002.

Wittenberg's Top Performers

• Kolka won the conference championship in the 10,000 meters with a time of 31:45.71. He is now a three-time outdoor conference champion, as he won the 5,000 in 2022 and 2023.
• McKinster earned his first career NCAC outdoor title with a mark of 48.51 meters in the discus.
• The Tigers had two other All-Conference finishers on the day in senior JJ Weisenberger (Collins, Ohio/Western Reserve) and sophomore Lucas Eisele (West Carrollton, Ohio/West Carrollton). Weisenberger finished second in the long jump with a mark of 6.88 meters, and Eisele was third in the 10,000 in 32:34.77.
• Wittenberg had six additional top-eight finishes on the day.
• Weisenberger placed fifth in the javelin with a mark of 48.64 meters.
• Senior Peter Caine (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) was seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:51.42, and junior Bryce Ray (Sun City, Fla./Sumner) was seventh in the long jump with a mark of 6.59 meters.
• Freshman Zeth Cowin (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) was eighth in the discus with a mark of 39.00 meters. Callinan and sophomore Gage Dyke (Frankfort, Ohio/Zane Trace) tied for eighth in the pole vault with a mark of 4.00 meters.

Prelims

• Friday's portion of the meet featured prelims for the 110-meter hurdles, 400, 100, 800, 400-meter hurdles and 200. Eight competitors from each event qualified for Saturday's finals.
• Junior Cameron Elliott (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) placed first in the 400 in 48.65 seconds and was sixth in the 200 in 22.08 seconds.
• Senior Zeke Bennett (Hilliard, Ohio/Bradley) placed third in the 400 in 49.13 seconds and was fifth in the 200 in 22.05 seconds.
• Freshman Owen Bier (Elyria, Ohio/Midview) placed second in the 400 hurdles in 56.44 seconds.
• Freshman Caiden Allen (Ontario, Ohio/Plymouth) and senior Matt Drovdlic (Hilliard, Ohio/Bradley) were fifth and seventh, respectively, in the 100 in 10.99 seconds and 11.09 seconds.

Quote - Junior Conor Kolka

• "I've never ran the conference 10K, so it feels great to come away with a win. I'm looking forward to trying to get another one tomorrow!"

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Saturday for the second and final day of the NCAC Outdoor Championships at Denison.