WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- Highlighted by 10, top 10 finishes and multiple personal bests, Denison men's track and field rang in the new year on Saturday as they competed in the 2019 Dave Lehman Open at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio.
Leading the Big Red with three top 10 finishes was junior Jack Ruddy. In the 400 meter dash, Ruddy placed fourth overall with a time of 53.35 and then finished ninth overall in the 200-meter event after clocking in at 24.08.
The 400 also saw Millan Henegar (53.967) edge out teammate Sam Bloodworth (53.968) by .001 seconds for eighth place. Freshman Otto Laakonen followed in 14th with a final time of 55.85.
Bloodworth went on to finish 11th overall behind Ruddy in the 200 at 24.33. Henegar logged a time of 24.93 and Laakonen finished in 24.99.
In the final event of the day, Ruddy, Henegar, Bloodworth, and Laakonen placed fifth overall in the 4X400 meter relay with a time of 3:40.66.
In the distance events, junior Ben Foster headlined DU's performance in the 3,000-meter run with a personal-best time of 9:01.28 to finish in seventh place. He was followed by Keanan Ginell in 23rd (9:27.82) and Calvin Riley in 36th (10:33.52).
The distance events also saw Clayton Watters place 24th in the one-mile run (4:53.51) and freshman Zackary Johnston finish the 800-meter run in 2:15.03 for a spot in 26th place.
Denison's success also found its way to the field events with four, top 10 finishes. Senior David Carter led the field competitors in the triple jump with a second place finish and a maximum distance of 43'2.5" (13.17 meters).
In the long jump, junior Jake Coplin placed eighth overall with a final mark of 20'8.5" (6.31 meters). Alex Chin and Britton Bienfang followed in 16th and 17th place, respectively, after both competitors reached a distance of 18'6" (5.64 meters).
The Big Red received another top 10 result from junior Ryan Fleming, who tied for eighth place in the high jump with a final height of 5'10.5" (1.79 meters). The weight throw event saw the same for DU with junior Bryce Stricker logging a 10th place finish on a throw of 45'5.25" (13.85 meters). Austin McManus placed 13th overall with a new personal-best distance of 42'1.5" (12.84 meters) while Grant Balogh also posted a new PR of 39'10.75" (12.16 meters) to finish in 18th place.
Denison will return to action next Saturday, January 26 when they travel to the College of Wooster to compete in the Fighting Scots Invitational.
