Wabash scored 76 points in the annual North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Relays to outdistance Allegheny College for second place in the final team scoring. Ohio Wesleyan won the meet with 88 points, while the Gators took third with 72.
The meet, held at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, features a combination of field and runninge events. Athletes scores are combined in the field and and individual running events to create a "relay" score or time. Five four-person relays --- the 800-meter, 1600-meter, sprint and distance medleys, and the 3200-meter relays --- are also counted toward the final score.
Wabash won the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:33.60 turned in by the quartet of Keith Clayton, Mike Russell, Bart Banach, and Nathan Bates. The group of Hugh Jackson, Tim Rickard, Geoff Lambert, and Ben Bly also took first place in the distance medley relay (10:39.09). The team of Russell, Bates, Rickard, and Lambert was third in the sprint medley (3:47.02). Jackson, Sam Compton-Craig, Bly, and Dennis Frazee also took third in the 3200 (8:36.30). Banach, Russell, Bates, and Lambert also won the 1600-meter relay (3:28.90).
Frazee and Compton-Craig combined for third in the two-man 5000-meter relay with a time of 31:38.60. Frazee had the third-best individual time, finishing eight seconds out of first place with a time of 15:36.56. Andrew Rode and Gabe Guerrero combined for a second place finish in the high jump relay. Rode cleared six feet to help the pair to a combined height of 11-06. Mike Russell was second individually in the long jump relay with a leap of 20-10.75. He joined Guerrero to finish fifth as a relay team with a total distance of 38-07.50.
The Little Giants will participate in the Titan Open next Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan University.