WOOSTER, Ohio -- Garnering seven top-three finishes, including two individual victories, Denison men's track and field traveled to the College of Wooster on Saturday afternoon and earned a fifth-place finish at the Fighting Scots Invitational. Totaling 76.5 team points, the Big Red finished behind Oberlin College who finished in fourth place with 91 points, just being edged by Allegheny College in third with 92 points. Wittenberg University finished on top with 145 points, and host Wooster trailed in second with 110.5.
Headlining the afternoon was DU's showing in the triple jump, placing three competitors in the top four. Junior David Carter won the event with a jump of 45'3.75", while James Dixie followed with a 42'5.25" (3rd place) and Isaac Reed finished in fourth with a 41'0.25".
The Big Red added their second victory of the day when sophomore Ben Foster posted a personal-best time of 9:13.45 in the 3000-meter race. Clayton Watters (6th - 9:40.09), Adam Cromwell (9th - 9:53.77), and Rhys Fitschen-Brown (10th - 10:01.16) all joined Foster as top-10 finishers.
Denison secured three second-place finishes in the field events when Dixie landed a 5'7.25" in the high jump and senior Church Humphreys checked in with a height of 10'11.75" in the pole vault, tying with Jacob Nowell of Wooster. Sophomore Bryce Stricker broke his own program and personal record in the weight throw when he completed a toss of 50'6.25" to place second, and followed that up with a third-place finish in the shot put, landing a throw of 43'6.50".
Freshman Grant Balogh chipped in a pair of personal-bests and top-10 finishes for the Big Red when he finished the 200-meter event in 10th place with a 24.39, and then set a new PR in the 60-meter dash with a 7.48 (6th). Carter and Dee Brown also added personal records in the 60, with Carter tying for seventh place with a 7.49 and Brown placing in ninth with a 7.55.
Denison will return to action next Saturday, Feb. 3 when they host the Bob Shannon Invitational at Mitchell Fieldhouse in Granville, as well as competing in the All-Ohio Combined Events meet hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University.
