GRANVILLE, Ohio – Denison men's track & field claimed six victories on Saturday afternoon on their way to a first-place finish at the 2020 Fighting Scots Invitational held at the College of Wooster. Finishing the day with 150 team points, the Big Red landed 29 points ahead of second-place Allegheny College with 121. Wooster followed in third place with 116 points while Kenyon (86) and Oberlin (73) rounded out the top-five.
Led by four of their six victories on the track, each of Denison's running wins came from a different competitor. Opening competition in the 5,000-meter run, sophomore Keanan Ginell clocked in at 15:53.76 to finish first overall as he set the tone early for the DU runners. Fellow sophomore Zackary Johnston trailed in fifth place with a final time of 6:58.34.
Denison's next victory came in the 4X200 meter relay where the combination of Jake Coplin, Lance Tobasky, Angelo Ricci, and Jack Ruddy logged the fifth-fastest personal record in school history at 1:33.09. The quartet finished .04 seconds faster than the group of Mike Barnes, Pat Effinger, Chris Roth, and Steve Flatley who clocked in at 1:33.13 in 2009 with the Big Red. Coplin also competed in the 60-meter dash where he placed sixth overall on a final time of 7.41, and in the 200-meter dash where he finished fourth overall (23.83). Additionally, in the 60-meter, freshman Kyle Hou followed in eighth place with a new personal-best time of 7.44.
In the 60-meter hurdles, freshman Charlie Webb logged DU's third win on the track when he placed first overall with a final time of 8.68. Webb also joined Tobasky, Ruddy, and Benjamin Rumsfeld in the 4X400 meter relay to take second place at 3:34.82.
Denison's final victory of the day came in the 3,000-meter run where senior Ben Foster crossed the finish line with a winning time of 9.02.99. Clayton Watters followed in fourth place at 9:38.20 and Rhys Fitschen-Brown took fifth with a final mark of 9:55.65.
The Big Red also opened the day with a pair of victories in the field events, including a first-place finish from senior James Dixie in the long jump where he reached a maximum mark of 20'8.50" (6.31 meters). Ricci followed in second place at 20'7" (6.27 meters) while Wayne Chen took fourth overall (19'7") and Coplin rounded out the top-five in fifth place (19'5.25").
Denison also captured a win the weight throw, led by senior Bryce Stricker and his winning toss of 52'5.25" (15.98 meters). Austin McManus followed in fifth place with a distance of 39'7.25" (12.07 meters) while Grant Balogh took seventh place at 36'7.50" and Gabe Springer trailed in 11th (30'9.25").
In the shot put event, Stricker led DU in second place with a throw of 43'11.75" (13.40 meters) and McManus finished eighth overall with a mark of 33'5.75" (10.20 meters). Springer took 11th place at 25'0.75". Justin Wolfe also claimed a second-place finish in the triple jump where he logged a final distance of 37'10.50" (11.54 meters).
The Big Red will return to Wooster next Thursday, January 30 when they compete in a traditional dual meet with the Fighting Scots.
