by Hailey de la Vara '21

The Ohio Wesleyan men's track & field team will be competing in the North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet on Thursday at Selby Stadium and the George Gauthier Track.

The Bishops have won 3 quadrangular meets during the outdoor season and they aim to continue their success for the championship.

"I trust we have the drive to produce our best efforts. The goal is to always strive to win the conference championship", said Ohio Wesleyan head coach Kris Boey.

Sophomore Kaito Iwasaki (Sendai, Japan/Sendai Daini) will be one to watch in the sprints, hurdles, and jumps during Thursday's meet.  He has the conference's best performance in the long jump (22-8½), the third-best time in the 110-meter hurdles (:15.23), and ranks sixth in the 100-meter dash (:11.15) this season.  Iwasaki was named NCAC Men's Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Week this week after winning 3 events at Denison last Friday. He won the 100-meter dash in :11.15, broke the tape in the 110-meter hurdles in :15.23, and took the long jump with a leap of 22-2¼.  It was Iwasaki's second NCAC Athlete of the Week citation of the spring.

Two other Bishops have earned the conference's weekly honor this season, sophomore Levi Kilian (Ault, Colo./Heritage Christian Academy) and senior Christian DeWiggins (Marysville).

Kilian is a 2-time pick as Distance/Middle Distance Athlete of the Week this spring.  He has the league's second-best time in the 800-meter run (1:53.46) and third-best time in the 1500-meter run (3:59.49) this season.

DeWiggins, who was recognized as Field Events Athlete of the Week once, ranks second in the NCAC in the hammer (164-3) and seventh in the javelin (137-6) this season.

Junior Joey Verdugo (Honolulu, Hawai'i/Upper Sandusky (Ohio)) is a returning all-conference performer from the most recent NCAC championship meet in 2019.  Verdugo finished second in the pole vault in that meet and ranks third in the league in the event this spring.

The Bishops' other returning all-conference performers from the 2019 meet are senior Kyler Brock (Zanesville/New Concord John Glenn) and junior Justin Winfield (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Technical), who helped the 1600-meter relay team to a third-place finish.  Winfield has the league's second-best time in the 400-meter dash (:49.56) this season.

In the field events, sophomore Luke Waryck (North Ridgeville/Avon) ranks third in the NCAC in the discus (146-1), fourth in the javelin (143-11), and fifth in the shot put (43-6) this season.

The NCAC championship is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Thursday with the finals in the hammer, pole vault, long jump, and 10,000-meter run.  For more information about the meet, click here.