By: Ryan Schadewald, sports information assistant
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Bluffton University track and field teams culminated their efforts for the season with the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship meet on Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27.
The Beaver men ended the outdoor season with a sixth place finish with 49 points, tying Transylvania. Rose-Hulman and Hanover took the top two spots in the HCAC in convincing fashion, as the Fightin' Engineers outdistanced the Panthers, 240-152.
The top finisher on the men's side was freshman Noah Judd (Columbia City, Ind.), who took home second place in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 1.75 inches (6.75 meters).
The sprint squad brought home big points for the Beavers all weekend as they scored points in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, as well as in a pair of relays.
After sneaking into the finals with the eighth and final spot, freshman Daniel Williams (Lansing, Mich./Waverly) finished fourth in the finals with a time of 11.49 seconds. Sophomore Omar Walick (East Pointe, Mich./Clintondale) took fifth in the 200 with a time of 23.28 seconds.
The 4x100 meter relay team of Christian Parker (Urbana/West Liberty), Williams, freshman Dalton Taynor (Troy/Miami East) and Warlick also finished in the third spot with a time of 43.61 seconds, while the 4x400 relay group of freshman Brandon James (Waynesfield/Waynesfield-Goshen), Warlick, Judd, and junior Connor Gulick (St. Louisville/Utica) added a fourth-place spot with a final time of 3:32.38 after Gulick barely edged out Manchester in the final stretch.
Gulick grabbed points in several top eight finishes individually throughout the weekend as Gulick finished sixth three different events, the 3000 steeplechase (10:03.61), 1500 (4:07.75) and 800 (2:03.94).
Junior Dakota Frost (Edgerton/Hicksville) also stole a point in the 5000 with a final time of 15:47.88.
In the hurdles, James snagged a handful of points with a fifth-place mark in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.40 seconds and in the 400 hurdles, going 58.57 seconds. The freshman also finished sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 41 feet, 11.5 inches (12.79 meters).
The women's team wrapped up their season with an eighth-place finish in the final team standings with 53 total points.
The lone conference champion this weekend for the Beavers came from senior Jennie Matteson (Guysville/Alexander) who defended her title at 10,000 meters on Friday night with a final time of 40:49.02. Junior Arie Cox (Ontario) dropped 40 seconds off of her career best to grab third in the event as well, posting a time of 41:54.35.
Matteson doubled back on Saturday to finish fourth at 5000 meters with a time of 19:22.55. Junior Alexis Cash (Gaines, Mich./Lake Fenton) finished just in front of Matteson in third with a time of 18:35.99.
Sophomore Bailie Barrington (Waynesfield/Waynesfield-Goshen) added points in a pair of events as she finished fourth in the 1500 with a school-record time of 4:55.76. The sophomore also added a seventh-place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:27.72 in the final.
Senior Keturah Warlick (East Pointe, Mich./Clintondale) rounded out her collegiate career with a sixth-place finish in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.11 seconds and an eighth-place mark in the 200 with a time of 27.60 seconds.
Switching to the field, senior Maelinn Delong (Archbold/Bryan) finished third in the shot put with a throw of 37 feet, 10.75 inches (11.55 meters) and fourth in the hammer with a toss of 137 feet, 5 inches (41.89 meters).
Junior Tori Bowen (Wapakoneta/Elida) also gave the Beavers fifth-place points in the pole vault with a clearance of 10 feet, 6 inches (3.20 meters).
The Beavers now look forward to last chance season as a group of athletes will head to Indiana University on Friday, May 3, for the Billy Hayes Invitational.
-BEAVERS-
