By: Ben Hershberger, sports information intern
March 31, 2007

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University track and field team hosted the Beaver Invitational on Saturday, March 31, 2007. Both the men's squad and the women's squad put up excellent finishes all day as the men took 2nd place overall, and the women took 3rd place. 

Senior SHANDON NORTH (Galion/Galion) and freshman teammate JASON FISHER(Rockford/Parkway) led the way for the Beavers. North paced Bluffton in the running events for the men, posting a first place finish in the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.72, and placed 4th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.70. North was also a part of the Beavers' 4x400 meter relay team which took 1st place with a time of 3:34.07. Joining him were teammates TYLER FAIRCHILD (Toledo/Whitmer), JOHNNY ICHRIST (Toledo/Whitmer), and COLLIN WAGNER(Pettisville/Pettisville).

Jason Fisher led the way for the men in the field events for the Beavers as he placed in the top 3 in four different events. Fisher took 2nd in the shot put with a throw of 13.79. He also placed 2nd in both the discus and the javelin throw with a throw of 40.65 meters in the discus and a launch of 43.72 meters in the javelin. Fisher rounded out his day of dominating performances with a 3rd place finish in the hammer throw, posting a toss of 41.06 meters.

Junior TYLER FAIRCHILD (Toledo/Whitmer) also finished with fantastic performances for the day. After taking part in the first place finish with the 4x400 relay team, he went on the grab his own first place finish in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:03.69. Also placing in the 800 meter run for the Beavers were teammates Colin Wagner in 2nd (2:05.47), HILLARY SHILOSIO(Eldoret, Kenya) in 3rd (2:13.76) and MIKE KOCH (Liberty Center/Liberty Center) in 4th (2:16.03).

Junior REX BROWN (Wauseon/Pettisville) showed his prowess in the javelin, taking first place overall with a throw of 44.73 meters. Brown also performed well in the discus with a 4th place throw of 35.77 meters. 

Also finishing strong for the men's squad individually was senior RUSTIN PICKETT (Urbana/Urbana) who placed 3rd in the long jump with a leap of 5.47 meters and Johnny Ichrist who helped with the 4x400 win and went on to place 4th in the 400 meter dash with a time of 53.93.

For the women, freshman SARAH BINKLEY (Bluffton/Cory-Rawson) and sophomore ASHLEY SMITH (Delta/Delta) led the way for the Beavers in the running events. Binkley took two 1st place finishes in the sprints with a time of 13.97 in the 100 meter dash and 28.57 in the 200 meter dash. Smith then took over with a 1st place finish in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:03.36. She placed 2nd in the women's long jump with a leap of 4.29 meters.

After both of their dominant individual performances, Binkley and Smith teamed up in the 4x400 meter relay, along with teammates SARAH HUMPHREY (Upper Sandusky/Upper Sandusky), and CHANTEL MANGRUM (Jackson, Tenn./Jackson Christian), to take 2nd place with a time of 4:35.77. Humphrey also had a strong individual day in the distance events with a 2nd place finish in the 1500 meter run (5:24.23) and a 4th place finish in the 800 meter run (2:43.27). Mangrum ran a strong race in the 400 meter dash, taking 3rd with a time of 1:08.84.

Sophomore KARYN DAVIS (Liberty Center/Liberty Center) led the way for the Beavers in the womens' throwing events, claiming 2nd in the shot put with a toss of 10.67 meters. Davis finished her day with a 4th place hammer throw of 31.27 meters.

The Bluffton track and field team will travel to Delaware, Ohio, for the Marv Frye Invite at Ohio Wesleyan on Friday, April 6, 2007. The meet is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

-BEAVERS-