GRANVILLE, Ohio – Highlighted by four All-North Coast Athletic Conference performances and a conference championship on Friday night, Denison men's track & field currently sits in second place after the first day of action at the 2020 NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted at Denison's Mitchell Fieldhouse in Granville. Holding strong with 49 team points after day one, the Big Red are only 14.66 points behind the meet's current leader, Wabash, who has totaled 63.66 points through six scored events.

The Big Red opened Friday's competition with a strong showing in the weight throw where senior Bryce Stricker claimed the first conference title of his career with a first-place launch of 52'11" (16.13 meters). It was his third all-conference showing in the event after placing third in 2019 and second in 2018. Fellow senior Austin McManus followed in 11^th place at 41'6.50" (12.66 meters) while Grant Balogh finished 18^th overall with a mark of 38'8.75" (11.80 meters).

Continuing DU's success in the field events, the Big Red tallied a pair of All-NCAC performances in the triple jump event, led by a second-place finish from senior Jake Coplin with a new personal-best distance of 43'11.75" (13.40 meters). Freshman Angelo Ricci also gained all-conference status in third place with a new PR of 42'11.50" (13.09 meters) while James Dixie trailed in fifth place at 42'2" (12.85 meters).

On the track, Denison scored in two additional events, including the 5,000-meter run where sophomore Keanan Ginell clocked in with an All-NCAC showing in second place with a new personal record time of 15:37.02. Senior Clayton Watters also checked in with a new PR when he placed sixth overall at 15:58.66 and Rhys Fitschen-Brown followed in 11^th at 16:21.97.

The Big Red also scored in the distance medley relay when the quartet of Zackary Johnston, Jack Ruddy, Benjamin Rumsfeld, and Ben Foster finished fourth overall with a final time of 10:38.91.

In the prelim events, Denison added one qualifier for tomorrow's final event in the 60-meter hurdles after freshman Charlie Webb clocked in at 8.62 to place fourth overall among the eight qualifiers. Dixie took 12^th overall at 9.21.

In the 400-meter prelims, freshman Lance Tobasky placed 15^th overall with a new PR time of 53.36. Kyle Hou also added a personal-best time in the 60-meter prelims when he placed 10^th overall at 7.21, which is the third-fastest PR in school history.

The Big Red will return to the Mitchell Fieldhouse on Saturday for day two of the NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Field events will begin at 10 a.m. and the running events will start at 2:30 p.m.