A pair of relay victories, along with individual wins in the 55-meter and 200-meter dashes and the 800-meter run, led the Wabash track and field team to a third place finish at the 2006 North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. The two-day meet was held over the weekend at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
The Little Giants won the 4 X 200-meter relay, taking first place with a time of 1:31.95 turned in by the quartet of Bart Banach, Mike Russell, Ja'Michael Hill, and Nathan Bates. The team of Banach, Russell, Bates, and Geoff Lambert won the 4 X 400-meter relay with a time of 3:27.33.
Banach, Russell, and Lambert also turned in individual victories. Banach won the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.63. Russell took the 200-meter crown (23.11), with Banach capturing fourth (23.20). Russell then added a second place finish in the long jump (21-06.75), and sixth in the high jump (6-00). Teammate Andrew Rode was seventh in the high jump (6-00) and seventh in the long jump (19-08.50). Josh Jones added a fifth place finish in the long jump (20-08.75).
Lambert won the 800-meter run, finishing with a time of 1:58.80. He has already run a season-best time of 1:53.31, reaching the provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Indoor Championships. He will learn later this week if his time will be good enough to make the meet.
Wade Heiny was second in the 55-meter hurdles (8.00). Hugh Jackson took sixth in the mile (4:31.96), while Thomas Bell was eighth in the triple jump (40-03.75). Ben Tritle took eighth in the shot put (42-09.25), as did Ben Bly in the 5,000-meter run (15:40.75).
The distance medley team of Jackson, Bates, Tim Rickard, and Dustin Beck was fifth with a time of 10:53.23.
Wabash scored a total of 92 points, trailing first place Allegheny (213) and second place Ohio Wesleyan (104). Denison (63) was fourth, followed by Wittenberg (50), Kenyon (38), Oberlin (23), Wooster (20), Earlham (17), and Hiram (4).