MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Denison men's track and field sit in a tie for sixth place after the first day of competition at the 2018 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships in Meadville, Pa. With a total of 19 team points, the Big Red are currently even with Kenyon College and Wittenberg University with the same score. Ohio Wesleyan stands in the lead after day one with 61 points.
The Big Red received their best field performances in the long jump on Friday afternoon, landing three new personal-best marks in the top 10. Headlining the finishers was junior David Carter, whose 21'9.50" (6.64 meters) landed him in seventh place, while Jake Coplin placed eighth overall with a PR leap of 21'5.50" (6.54 meters). James Dixie closed out the event for DU with a 21'4" in 10th place.
Adding to Denison's field events success was Bryce Stricker's fourth-place finish in the hammer throw with a length of 159'3", while senior Church Humphreys placed fifth overall in the pole vault competition, logging a height of 12'5.50" (3.80 meters). Austin McManus and Austin Burgess also competed in the hammer throw, with McManus finishing in 16th (126'3") and Burgess placing 20th (107'8"). Burgess also went on to log a throw of 37'7.25" in the shot put, good for 17th place.
On the track, the Big Red logged five preliminary qualifiers for the finals on Saturday afternoon, highlighted by a top qualifying time from sophomore Ben Foster in the 800-meter run, who logged a new personal-best of 1:56.85. Also qualifying for Saturday's final in the 800 were Zach Munn in seventh place (1:58.98) and Niall Clancey in eighth (1:59.81).
Denison also qualified for Saturday's finals in both hurdle competitions with Isaac Reed's 15.69 in the 110-meter hurdles landing him in eighth, and a 57.76 from Jack Ruddy in the 400-meter hurdles placing him fourth overall.
Checking in with DU's sixth personal record of the day, sophomore Clayton Watters placed seventh overall in the 10,000 meter run with a 32:57.07.
The Big Red will return to Meadville on Saturday, May 5 for day two of the NCAC Championships at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.
