MARIETTA — The Wilmington College men’s track and field team traveled to Marietta Friday to compete in the OAC South Split Meet.
Five of the conference’s 10 member schools were in attendance — Otterbein University, Capital University, Muskingum University, Marietta College, and Wilmington. Of these five teams, Wilmington finished third with 108 points.
Junior Pierce Burnam (New Richmond, OH/New Richmond) came out on top for the Fightin’ Quakers, finishing first in the 400-meter dash in 52.33 seconds. Freshman teammate Aaron Koch (Goshen, OH/Goshen) was close behind, finishing the race in 54.26, which earned him third-place.
Burnam collected another first-place win in the 55-meter hurdles with a final time of 7.96. He also earned third in the long jump (6.14m) and second in the triple jump (12.64m).
“Pierce had a great day, scoring in multiple events with wins in the 55-meter hurdles and the 400-meter dash,” WC coach Ron Combs said. “We were only a few points out of second; a couple of injuries hurt us.”
Wilmington finished first and second in the men’s high jump, with senior Antone Truss (Yellow Springs, OH/Yellow Springs) taking the top spot and Burnam getting runnerup placement. Truss also earned a second-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 12.64m.
Freshman Adam Knaub snagged a fourth-place finish for Wilmington in the 500-meter dash, clocking in at 1:12.93.
Sophomore Matt Baker (Liberty Center, OH/Liberty Center) finished the men’s 1000-meter run in 2:48.69 which earned him fifth-place. Fellow sophomore Gage Egner (Blanchester, OH/Blanchester) was the only Fightin’ Quaker to compete in the 1-mile run, finishing fifth in 5:03.68.
Junior Griffin Stith (Batavia, OH/Batavia) was third (9:47.69) and sophomore Rick Pride fourth (9:49.49) in the 3000-meter run. In the 5000-meter run, sophomore Cameron Erwin (Springfield, OH/Northeastern) was fifth with a time of 18:00.51.
Wilmington’s relay teams demonstrated their talents as well. The team of freshman Kaner Butler (Yellow Springs, OH/Yellow Springs), Koch, junior Travis Scheadler (Goshen, OH/Goshen) and Knaub earned third-place in the 4×200-meter relay.
The 4×400-meter relay was second with Burnam, sophomore Eric Flynn, Jr. (Cleveland, OH/Central Catholic), Koch, and Butler clocking 3:39.33.
The distance medley team of freshman Jeff Clydesdale (Circleville, OH/Logan Elm), sophomore Elliot Phillimore (Old Fort, OH/Old Fort), junior Tony Wydra (Miamisburg, OH/Miamisburg), and Phelps scored a fourth-place finish with a time of 12:09.51.
Junior Kalvin Butts (St. John’s, MI/St. John’s) threw a distance of 14.71m in the weight throw to earn him a fifth-place finish to close out the meet.
The Fightin’ Quakers travel to Cedarville on Friday to compete in the Cedarville Invitational.
