CEDARVILLE —Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams claimed wins for Cedarville University at the March 31 Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open.
In the men’s competition, Kevin Knox won the javelin with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark to lead the Cedarville men to victory.
Knox unloaded a career-best heave of 195 feet, 10 inches (59.70 meters), which ranks fifth all-time at CU.
Tommy Ansiel won the pole vault competition by clearing 16-1.25 (4.91 meters) to improve his standing among Division II provisional qualifiers.
Ethan Gatchell took first in the 1,500 meters in 4:05.50. Other winners were Trent Classen in the 5,000 (15 minutes, 20.71 seconds) and Bryan Perschbacher in the 100 meter hurdles (15.81).
Runner-up showings came from Gatchell in the 800 (1:55.37), Chase Gruet in the 400-meter hurdles (57.31), and Caleb Snyder in the triple jump (42-10.25; 13.06m).
Lane Hluch was third in the hammer throw with a personal-best effort of 173-2 (52.78m) which rates third on CU’s all-time list.
Cedarville racked up 181 points to win the 10-team meet. Findlay was the runner-up with 103 points and Ohio Wesleyan was third with 97.
Cedarville’s women’s team won five events.
The Yellow Jackets totaled 155 points to top the 12-team field. Findlay had 125 points for runner-up honors while Indiana Tech was third with 111.50.
Carly Rose won the 800 meters in 2:18.86 with Rachel Sweeney second in 2:20.01.
In the 1,500 meters, Kayla Casaletto (4:48.99) and Sarah Hoffman (4:52.53) took the top two spots.
Alaina Spears was a winner in the 5,000 meters in 18:27.18 and Krista Green was first in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 12:17.94.
The 1,600-meter relay team of Hoffman, Rose, Sweeney and Lyndsey Smith finished the meet with a win in 4:06.72.
Mariah Cruise led the charge in the field events with a pair of career-best efforts. She was third in the discus at 139-4 (42.48 meters) and fourth in the shot put at 41-5.75 (12.64 m).
Both of those marks rate third all-time, respectively, on Cedarville’s all-time track & field outdoor Top 10s.
“It was good to get two team wins today. We again had many strong performances and overall good team competitions. A number of individuals came through for us,” said Cedarville University Head Coach Jeff Bolender.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action at 10 a.m. Saturday April 7 when they’ll compete in the Muskingum Invitational, held at Muskingum University in New Concord.
