Junior Dennis Frazee scored a first and fourth in two distance races and the 4X200-meter relay team took the top spot in the season-opening Wabash Alumni Invitational, held Saturday in the Knowling Fieldhouse. While no official team score was kept during the meet, the Little Giant athletes got a chance to start the year against athletes from Vincennes University, the University of Indianapolis, Southern Indiana, Marian, Manchester, Taylor, Grace, and Bellarmine.
Frazee took the top spot in the 5000-meter run, winning the event with a time of 15:56. Teammate Matt Maher grabbed third place, finishing in 16:28.16. Frazee also took fourth in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9:11.42.
The 4 X 200 relay team of Bart Banach, Michael Russell, Tim Rickard, and Nathan Bates returned to the same form that earned the quartet All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors last season. The group won the event in Saturday's meet with a time of 1:32.35, breaking the meet and Fieldhouse record in the process.
Freshman Arthur Banks ran his first collegiate 55-meter hurdles, advancing to the finals with a preliminary time of 8.50. He took sixth in the finals with a time of 8.39.
Banach also put a Little Giant runner in the finals of the 55-meter dash, finishing second in the finals with a time of 6.61, good enough to tie the previous meet record.
Geoff Lambert added a second place finish in the 800-meter run. He finished in 1:57.70, also well ahead of the meet and Fieldhouse record.
The 4 X 400 relay team of Rickard, Russell, Banach, and Lambert added another second place finish to the Wabash totals, running a time of 3:31.05.
Ben Tritle took fourth in the shot put (13.19 meters), while teammate John Tsintis was sixth (12.47 meters). Nelson Barre finished fourth in the pole vault (12-06).
The Little Giants will participate in the NCAC Relays next Saturday at Denison University.