Trio of wins lead Rio men to 5th place finish

Rio Grande Sports Information
     MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The University of Rio Grande men's track and field team recorded three wins to highlight their collective effort in the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational, which concluded its three-day run on Saturday at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
     Senior Tyler Jenkins (Barnesville, OH) took top honors in the mile run with a personal-best time of 4:11.92, while sophomore John Young (Leroy, OH) won the 3,000-meter run in a time of 8:46.76 and freshman Angel Montes (Mexico) finished first in the 5,000-meter race walk with a mark of 23:32.13.
     The trio of first-place finishes helped the RedStorm post a fifth-place finish as a team in a field which included a number of NCAA Division I programs.
     The University of Connecticut accumulated 133 points to win the team crown, with Lock Haven (Mass.) and Vorhees (S.C.) rounding out the top three with 77 and 70 points, respectively.
     UNC-Pembroke took fourth place with 69 points, while Rio Grande was fifth with 67 points.
     The RedStorm had 19 other individual Top 10 outings and a pair of relay units which contributed to their solid weekend.
     Junior Rowen Gerlach (New Haven, WV) scored in a trio of events, placing fourth in the discus throw with a toss of 45.76m, sixth in the shot put with an effort covering 15.12m and eighth in the hammer throw with a heave of 51.97m.
     Other performances of note for head coach Matt Paxton's squad included freshman Gage Renison (Chillicothe, OH), who placed second in the 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 1:58.48; senior Mugisha Pomossene (Dayton, OH), who took second place in the 5,000-meter race walk with a time of 24:23.12; sophomore Ryder Crawford (Owensville, OH), who was third in the mile run with a personal-best finish of 4:17.88; freshman Moritz Siegel (Leipzig, Germany), who was third in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:53.25; sophomore Anton Meinlschmidt (Weibeyoke, Germany), who placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:38.98; freshman Nathan Ward (Galena, OH), who was third in the 5,000-meter race walk after crossing in 27:56.23; junior Kasy Science (Marietta, OH), who was fifth in the mile after posting a personal-best time of 4:20.16; freshman Milan Tobiska (Czechia), who snared fifth place in the long jump at 6.85m; freshman Josh Alexander (Fredricktown, OH), who was fifth in the pole vault at 3.66m; freshman Micah Balsmeyer (Walbridge, OH), whose personal-best time of 15:25.44 was good enough for sixth place in the 5,000-meter run; freshman Noah Sileshi (Germany), who was ninth in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best mark of 48.38; junior Ashton Beverly (Chillicothe, OH), who was ninth in the mile run at 4:29.20; freshman Jahfa Woodley (Trinadad and Tobago), who was 10th in the mile with a new personal-best mark of 4:30.46; freshman Abdoul Bah (Columbus, OH), who was 10th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:00.74; and the duo of senior Spencer Harris (Gallipolis, OH) and freshman Levi Wolford (Patriot, OH), both of whom tied for 10th place in the high jump at 1.83m.
     The RedStorm's "A" entry in the 4x800 relay - comprised of Young, Woodley, freshman Tyler Hill (Reedsville, OH) and Jenkins - was third at 7:53.32, while the "B" unit, which included the quarter of Science, Beverly, Renison and Crawford was fourth with a time of 7:55.93.
     "We had three walkers reach qualifying standards and the two 4x800 teams we put out there both ran under the school record that we set here two years ago," Paxton said.
     Rio Grande returns to action next Friday and Saturday at the Dr. Jack M. Toms Alumni Invitational in Lynchburg, Va.