The Denison men's track and field team placed eighth with 41 points at the annual Marv Frye Invitational hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday in Delaware, Ohio.
The Big Red had eight top-8 performances on Saturday in Delaware. Sophomore Wallace Branche paced Denison with nine points in two events. Branche placed second in the triple jump with a leap of 45'5.25". Freshman Lester Harris finished right behind the sophomore with a personal-best jump of 44'2.75". Harris' jump landed him eighth on school's outdoor list. In addition to finishing runner-up in the triple jump, Branche also placed eighth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.85.
Also helping the cause were sophomores Quenton Richards and Bryan Fowler. Richards placed third in the 100-meter dash after completing the race in a personal-best time of 11.02. In addition to recording a PR time, Richards also moved into seventh on the school's top performers list. The sophomore sprinter also scored in the 200 after finishing eighth with a time of 22.95.
In the javelin, Fowler logged a personal-best throw of 148'10". That distance landed him eighth on DU's top performers list. Drake Lohnes took fifth in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:17.91. Sophomore Andrew Groff finished seventh in the 5000-meter run after crossing the finish line in 15:54.89.
The 4x100 relay team of Richards, Ian Mulmat, Ivan Hall and Luke Romick placed fifth with a time of 44.38. The group of Zach Cove, Ryan Keller, Jon Brachna and Mitch Keller combined for a time of 3:33.75 in the 4x400 relay. That time landed the foursome in sixth place.
Senior John Bute also had a personal-best performance in the hammer throw. Bute recorded a toss of 111'1" which was a 4'4" improved on his previous PR. Mitch Keller and freshman Jake Dennie finished ninth and 10th, respectively, in the 1500-meter event. Keller completed the race in 4:10.98, while Dennie crossed the line in 4:11.44.
The host Bishops won the team title with 154 points, while Albion took second with 119.5 tallies. Ohio Northern (83), Case Western (83) and Baldwin-Wallace (74.5) rounded out the top-five spots.
Denison returns to Delaware, Ohio next Saturday for the annual All-Ohio Division III Championship. Events are scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m.
