The Denison men's track and field team had two athletes compete at the Jesse Owens Track Classic hosted by The Ohio State University, while the rest of the team ran at the Kenyon Spring Invitational in Gambier, Ohio.
Sophomores Wallace Branche and Quenton Richards represented the Big Red well at the meet in Columbus, Ohio. Branche placed fourth in the 10-man triple jump field with a combined jump of 46'9". Branche, one of only two Division III athletes in the event, finished with a better mark than competitors from Tiffin, Kent State, Findlay and Youngstown State.
Like Branche, Richards also competed in event that was predominantly made up of athletes from Divisions I and II. The sophomore sprinter was one of only four Division III athletes to compete in the 100-meter dash. Richards finished 17th in the 38-athlete field with a time of 11.09.
In Gambier, freshman Lester Harris paced the scoring with a victory in the triple jump. Harris scored 10 points for the Big Red after recording a combined leap of 43'3.75". Sophomore transfer Bryan Fowler and junior Andy Shaw combined for 11 points with top-4 finishes in the javelin and discus, respectively. Fowler took third in after posting a personal-best mark of 159', besting his previous PR by 5'4". Shaw was fourth in the discus with a toss of 134'4".
Sophomore Sam Beech placed sixth in the 5,000-meter run after crossing the finish line in 16:16/13, while Trent Babb and John Bute both logged seventh-place performances. Babb cleared 5'10" in the high jump and Bute tossed the shot 41'7.75". Bute also set a personal record in the hammer with a toss of 112'4".
Denison's final four points came in the 4x400-meter relay. The group of Luke Romick, Babb, Michael Bonebrake and Saddan Genao took eighth with a time of 3:38.53.
The Big Red finished with 32 points en route to a 10th-place finish. Penn State-Behrend won the team title with 117.50 points, while Otterbein and Ohio Wesleyan tied for second with 84 points each.
DU returns to action on Friday when they host the annual Denison Big Red Invitational. Field events are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m., while running events are slated to start at 5 p.m.
