GAMBIER, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University men's track & field team competed at the NCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday, hosted by Kenyon. The Battling Bishops tallied 89 points on their way to a fourth place finish in the nine-team field. John Carroll won the event with 163.5 points, followed by Wittenberg with 156 points, and Wabash with 145.5 points. Six Bishops earned a total of nine All-NCAC honors with top-three finishes in their respective events.

The highlight of the weekend came in the 4x100-meter relay where Joel Adade, Connor Smith, Ryan Tripp, and Nate Snead set a new NCAC and OWU record at 41.01.

DECATHLON
Michael Strange and Michael Hess started off OWU's efforts in the NCAC Championship with nine team points at the NCAC Outdoor Combined-Events Championship last weekend in Granville. Strange finished second in the event and earned All-NCAC honors with 5988 points. Hess was eighth, earning 5222 points.

Strange's best event was the 100-meter dash where he took the top spot with an 11.12, earning 834 points. He also finished second in the discus, and third in both the 110-meter hurdles and the pole vault to tack on 1871 points. His discus flew for 36.35 meters while he vaulted 3.95 meters and ran the hurdles in 16.50. Strange took fourth in the long jump at 6.01 meters for 589 points, fifth in the 400-meter dash at 52.08 for 721 points, and sixth in the high jump at 1.76 meters for 593 points. He was eighth in both the shot put with a mark of 10.31 meters for 504 points, and javelin at 37.33 meters for 404 points. His 1500-meter run was done in 5:15.83, finishing ninth for 472 points.

Hess secured a victory in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.12, earning 719 points. He was also third in the 1500-meter run with a 4:51.54, earning 609 points. His 52.53 in the 400-meter dash was good for sixth and 702 points. Hess was eighth in each the 100-meter dash at 11.66, the high jump at 1.70 meters, and the discus at 31.04 meters, earning an additional 1748 points. Finally, he finished 10th in the javelin at 35.58 meters, 11th in the long jump at 5.35 meters, 13th in the pole vault at 2.55 meters, and 14th in the shot put at 7.93 meters to tally another 1910 points.

TRACK EVENTS
The Battling Bishops started track finals off with some fireworks in the 4x100-meter relay as the quartet of Joel Adade, Connor Smith, Ryan Tripp, and Nate Snead turned in a 41.01 for a new NCAC record, also breaking the Ohio Wesleyan program record in the process. Needless to say, the group took the top spot and earned 10 points along with All-NCAC honors.

OWU's highest-scoring event of the weekend was the 100-meter dash with 14 points coming from the trio of Snead, Smith, and Tripp. Snead secured the win and All-NCAC honors with a 10.62. Smith was sixth at 10.87 and Tripp was eighth at 10.95.

The sprinter trio was back in the top eight for the 200-meter dash, earning six points. Smith finished sixth with a 21.90, followed by Snead in seventh with a 21.96, and Tripp in eighth with a 22.11.

Michael Hess and Jayson Dyer recorded five points in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing just 0.21 seconds apart in sixth and seventh. Hess was sixth at 56.68. Dyer was seventh at 56.89.

The Bishops' 4x400-meter relay of Alex Stoller, Aidan McNeill, Adade, and Tripp put up a 3:22.53 for seventh place and two points.

FIELD EVENTS
Dominic Brown and Ryan Tripp got the Red and Black going on the field with a pair of victories in the javelin and the long jump, earning All-NCAC honors. Brown nabbed the top spot in javelin with a mark of 51.59 meters. Tripp posted a 6.99-meter mark at the top of the long jump leaderboard.

Tanner Sir Louis and Alex Bzdafka collected nine points in the pole vault, landing in fourth and fifth with identical heights of 4.39 meters. Sir Louis held the edge, needing just one attempt to pass over.

Connor Smith secured All-NCAC honors and eight points with a second place finish in the high jump at 1.99 meters.

Peter Ortiz took fourth in the shot put, tossing 14.63 meters for five points.

Ayden Clary yielded one point with an eighth place finish in the hammer throw at 45.80 meters.

ALL-NCAC
Joel Adade - 4x100M Relay
Dominic Brown - Javelin
Connor Smith - High Jump, 4x100M Relay
Nate Snead - 100M Dash, 4x100M Relay
Michael Strange - Decathlon
Ryan Tripp - Long Jump, 4x100M Relay

UP NEXT
The Battling Bishops will start their slate of final qualifying meets next weekend, starting with the Baldwin Wallace Harrison Dillard Twilight on Thursday and Friday, accompanied by the St. Francis (Ill.) Fighting Chance Invite also on Friday.