GAMBIER, Ohio (February 18, 2024) – Denison University men's track & field competed in three meets this weekend, including two days at the North Coast Athletic Conference Combined Events Championships. For the second time this season, senior Jacob Brown broke his own school record in the heptathlon en route to also winning his second straight NCAC heptathlon title.

KENYON TUNE UP: The Denison throwers competed at the Kenyon Tune Up on the night of Friday, February 16. Chris Slater won the weight throw with a toss of 16.64 meters and was followed by Owen Mathes (12.27 meters) in fourth, Reed Nobili (11.88 meters) in fifth and Justin King (10.88 meters) in seventh. Then in the shot put, Collin Hill (14.89 meters), Slater (14.79 meters), Mathes (13.29 meters), King (13.06 meters) and Nobili (12.15 meters) finished in order between second and sixth place while Jonathan Westfall (9.65 meters) just missed the top-10 in 11th place.

WITTENBERG INVITATIONAL: Denison University men's track & field traveled to Springfield, Ohio, for the second time this season on Saturday to compete in the 2024 Wittenberg Invitational.

Top-20 Finishes:

• Jairus Branch – sixth place in the 60 meter dash qualifying – 7.33 seconds
• Jaylin Epps – ninth place in the 200 meter dash – 22.65 seconds
• Malik Holley – 10th place in the 200 meter dash – 22.69 seconds
• Worth Hinshaw – 14th place in the one mile run – 4:24.17
• Leo Wisnefski – 17th place in the 800 meter run – 2:02.18
• Akindele Aboyade-Cole – 18th place in the 60 meter dash qualifying – 7.56 seconds
• Oliver DiCerbo – 18th place in the one mile run – 4:26.15
• Will Cunningham – 18th place in the 200 meter dash – 2:02.75

NCAC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD COMBINED EVENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS: Jacob Brown also competed for the Big Red on Saturday and Sunday as he took part in the heptathlon competition at the 2024 NCAC Indoor Track & Field Combined Events Championships held at Kenyon College in Gamier, Ohio. In the end, Brown successfully defended his NCAC heptathlon championship after collecting a new school record of 4,895 points. DePauw University's Daniel Jansen was third with 4,521 points and Wittenberg University's Sam Callinan was third with 4,204 points.

Through the first of four events on Saturday, Brown scored 2,761 points and led Jansen with 2,467 points for first place. Brown was third in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.34 seconds, first in the long jump at 6.52 meters (21-04.75), first in the shot put at 12.29 meters (40-04.00) and second in the high jump at 1.85 meters (6-00.75). In addition, sophomore Justin Tharayil was 12th in the 60 meter dash (7.93 seconds) and ninth in the long jump (5.69 meters) before withdrawing from the competition.

Brown then finished the competition on Sunday by taking second in all three events, which included the 60 meter hurdles (8.81 seconds), the pole vault (4.03 meters; 13-02.50) and the 1,000 meter run (2:54.42).

Brown is now a four-time NCAC Combined Events Champion with wins in the heptathlon in 2023 and 2024 and wins in the decathlon in 2022 and 2023, and he will have one more chance to add to that total this year during the outdoor track & field season.

In all, Brown has broken the Denison school record in the heptathlon five times, including the NCAC Combined Events Championships (4,669 points) last year and the Oiler Opener (4,796 points) earlier this season.
 
NEXT UP: Kenyon College will host the 2024 North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday, February 23, and Saturday, February 24.
 
Kenyon Tune Up Results
Wittenberg Invitational Results
NCAC Indoor Track & Field Combined Events Championship Results