Jan. 26, 2008

By Gary Petit

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Senior Ryan Robertson won the long jump and was second in the 55-meter dash to pace the Ohio Northern men’s indoor track & field team at the Midwest Invitational hosted by Monmouth (Ill.) Saturday afternoon.

The Polar Bears finished fourth with 115.5 points. Augustana (Ill.) won the event with 158.5 points as Wartburg (Iowa) and Monmouth (Ill.) tied for second with 135.

Robertson won the long jump with a leap of 22’ 8 1/2” (6.92m) and was second in the 55-meter dash at 6.51.

Junior National Champion Jimmy O’Brien was the only other ONU winner as he took first in the 1-mile run in a time of 4:19.81.

Fellow junior Justin Linzy (4th) and freshman Julian Horn (5th) finished close behind Robertson in the 55-meter dash in 6.65 and 6.69, respectively. Horn also finished third in the 200-meter run at 22.89.

In the 400-meter dash, freshman Jeff Messmer ran on ONU season-best 51.23 to finish third. He also finished fifth in the 55-hurdles in a time of 8.44.

Sophomore Joe Amstutz led three Polar Bear placers in the 800-meter run at 1:59.87 to finish third. Steve Darmon finished sixth at 2:02.36 and Brad Neumann took eighth at 2:03.79.

Junior Thomas Adam and sophomore Alan Bowsher finished fourth and fifth in the 3,000-meter run. Adam crossed the line in 8:58.36 with Bowsher close behind at 8:59.74.

In the pole vault, sophomore Jacob Weyrauch finished fourth with a career-best vault of 14’ 11” (4.55m). Freshman Andy Lammers tied for sixth at 13’ 11 1/4” (4.25m).

The Polar Bears will return home this Friday to host the OAC Relays in the ONU Sports Center. Action will begin at 5 pm.