The Wabash College track and field team picked up five first place finish at the 50th Annual Wabash College Relays on Saturday. The annual event marks the beginning of the outdoor track and field season for the Little Giants.
Wabash took the top spot in two of the running relays and one of the field events. The 4 X 100-meter relay team of Keith Clayton (FR/Colorado Springs, CO/Fountain Valley School), Artie Montes (SR/Mission, TX/Mission), Josh Jones (North Richland Hills, TX/Nolan Catholic), and Zach Smith (FR/Newburgh, IN/Castle) outraced the rest of the competition, crossing the finish line in 44.9 seconds. Smith and Montes also placed in the top-three spots in the men’s 100-meter dash. Smith won the event, finishing in 11.60. Montes, who along with Smith was competing in his first outdoor meet, was third with a time of 11.89.
The distance medley team of John DiCicco (FR/Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central), RJ Metz (SR/Carmel, IN/Westfield-Washington), Matt Feipel (FR/Hoagland, IN/Heritage), and Peter Fenimore (SO/Bexley, OH/Bexley) finished first after turning in a final time of 11:18.0.
Junior Sean Gerold (Crawfordsville, IN/Crawfordsville) took the top spot in the men’s hammer throw with a toss of 126 feet, ten inches. He and teammate Eric Morris (FR/Ft. Wayne, IN/Ft. Wayne Snider) combined for the best relay performance in the hammer. Morris added a result of 113 feet, ten inches for a combined effort of 240 feet, eight inches.
Senior Dan Ruge (Chesterton, IN/Chesterton) added the final first place finish for Wabash. He took the blue ribbon in the 5000-meter run, finishing the race in 15:47.1.
Wabash was second in the 4 X 400 relay. Steve Cottom (JR/Rosedale, IN/Riverton Parke), Clayton, Wes Jacks (JR/West Lafayette, IN/Harrison), and Nathan Bates (FR/Ossian, IN/Norwell) finished with a time of 3:25.79. Jones and Ashley Stephen (FR/Centerville, IN/Centerville) combined for a second place finish in the high jump. Jones cleared six feet, while Stephen turned in a mark of five feet, eight inches to give the pair a total effort of 11 feet, eight inches. The sprint medley team of Jones, Cottom, Jacks, and Feipel also finished second overall (3:42.65).
No team scoring was kept. Danville Area Community College earned the Outstanding Team of the Meet Award in both men’s and women’s competition, as voted on by the coaches.