By: Jenia Freewalt, sports information assistant

TIFFIN, Ohio - On Saturday, March 30, the Beavers traveled to Tiffin for their first of two meets this season hosted by the Dragons. The Tiffelberg Open served as a great opportunity to shine, both on the track and on the field.

In the men's triple jump, junior Joey Bonham (Vanlue) placed 2nd overall with a mark of 12.89 meters. Dontrayell Thomas (Madera, Cal./Edison) placed 7th overall with a mark of 12.25 meters.

In the men's 400 meters, senior Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton) placed 6th and set a new PR of 49.57! Russell Lough (Wintersville/Indian Creek) placed right behind him, finishing the race in 7th place with a time of 49.63, which was also a new PR! Placing 10th with a time of 50.96 and also setting a new PR was senior Blayden McCoy!

Gist had his 110 hurdle debut this weekend. He placed 3rd with a time of 14.55, putting him in the top 15 in the nation at the time of the event!

In the women's 100 meters, junior Kailea Kerr (Manchester, Ind.) finished the race with a PR time of 13.65!

In the men's 1500 meters, freshman Micah Dodson (Wooster/Central Christian) set a PR of 4:48, dropping 20 seconds off of his previous PR!

Senior Ethan Ly (Celina) qualified for the HCAC Championships with his performance in the 800 meters, racing a season best with a time of 2:02! Senior Alex Montross (Perrysburg) and junior Aiden Brien (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) also both set PR's in the race, respectively, running times of 2:08 and 2:13.

Currently ranked 3rd in the HCAC and 2nd in school history in the men's 5k race is senior Cole Kropka (New London), finishing the race with an impressive time of 15:32 and placing 4th overall! Also performing well in the 5k was junior Braeden Horn (Galion), flying across the line for a season best time of 16:47.

Coach Connor Gulick, who works primarily with the distance athletes, was proud of the performances, saying, "I think it was one of our best meets of the season from everyone in the group. Just about everyone had a PR or a season best performance which is exciting heading into our peaking phase."

Head Coach Ben Markison was pleased with the team's performance, saying, "Overall, it was a really good 2nd meet. We showed up to compete against some really good squads, most of which were D2 teams, and we were able to hang with them which is great to see. The 400 group on the men's side is starting to put it together and that really showed today. I'm excited to see where they end the season for how fast they're running this early!"

The Beavers continued their season at Manchester on April 6th.

-BEAVERS-