O'Brien sets school record to lead ONU Men's Track at Friday Night #2

Jan. 18, 2008

By Zach Stipe

ADA — Junior Jimmy O’Brien and sophomore Joe Amstutz each broke the ONU-record in the 500-meter run to lead the Ohio Northern men’s track and field team to a second-place finish at Friday Night Series Meet No.2 at the ONU Sports Center.

Ashland won the meet with 243.83 points, while Northern followed with 159.83 points. Following the Eagles and the Polar Bears were Findlay (138.5), Heidelberg (90), Indiana Tech (67.83) and Bluffton (16).

In the 500, O’Brien took the lead with 50 meters to go and clocked a time of 1:05.68 to finish first, while Amstutz used a late kick to edge Heidelberg’s Cory Beebe for second place in 1:06.26. Both times beat the old 500 record of 1:06.42 set by Pramod Patel in 2003.

O’Brien was also a member of the fourth-place 4x400 relay. The team of O’Brien, junior Eric Porter and freshmen Evan Heyman and Jeff Messmer finished in 3:30.34.

Senior Ryan Robertson ran a 6.44 to finish first in the 55-meter dash. The time also provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA III Championships.

Robertson was also third in the 300-meter dash in 36.78 and fourth in the long jump with a leap of 21-00.5.

Freshman Jacob Fox finished second in the long jump with a leap of 21-04.75 and was fourth in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.87.

Junior Paul Lewis and senior Robert Leslie finished 2-3 in the 3,000-meter run. Lewis ran a time of 9:03.84, while Leslie finished in 9:13.84.

Also turning in outstanding performances in the distance events were junior Thomas Adam and sophomore Alan Bowsher in the 1,500-meter run.

Adam nearly out-kicked Heidelberg’s Scott Lasch, placing second by .58 with a time of 4:29.09. Bowsher finished fourth in 4:32.52.

In the 400, freshman Shane Huntley placed fourth in 52.52.

In the field events, Junior Dominic Clouse jumped 38-09.75 to place third in the triple jump, while sophomore Jacob Weyruach was runner-up in the pole vault with a height of 14-09.

Ashlands’ Joe Horn set an ONU Sports Center record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.41, eclipsing the old mark of 22.52 set in 2007.

Ohio Northern returns to action next Friday when it travels to Monmouth (Ill.) to compete in the Midwest Invitational. The Polar Bears return to the ONU Sports Center on Feb. 1 when they host the OAC Relays.