Denison takes seventh at Capital
Denison opened the season with a seventh-place finish at Capital's Purple & White Invitational on Saturday in Bexley, Ohio. The abbreviated squad scored 31 points, including four top-5 finishes.
Freshman Wallace Branche wasted no time making a mark in his collegiate debut as he finished second in the triple jump with a distance of 44'2.50". The rookie's performance was second to only Ohio Dominican's Tyler Fifer. In addition, Branche's jump ranks seventh on the school's all-time performers list.
The first-year athlete also posted a record-breaking time in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles. Branche crossed the line in 9.02 in the prelims before recording a time of 9.18 in the finals. That finals time landed him in sixth place. Additionally, Branche took ninth in the long jump with a leap of 20'2.50".
Rookie Sam Posniewski also helped the cause. Posniewski finish fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.06. Junior Jon Brachna was 10th in the race with a time of 53.48.
Denison rounded out the scoring with four top-8 finishes in two relay events. In the 4x200, Brachna, Quenton Richards, Posniewski and Ian Mulmat took third with a time of 1:36.57, while Luke Romick, Stephen Czujko, Ivan Hall and Joe Nichols placed fourth after clocking in at 1:37.87. The 4x400 team of Brachna, Czujko, Posniewski, and Mulmat placed sixth (3:37.52), while Romick, Hall, Branche and Nichols took seveth (3:50.05).
The Big Red will compete in their first complete team competition on Jan. 26 at the annual Denison Lid-Lifter in Granville, Ohio.
