Feb. 29, 2008

By Zach Stipe

ADA — Freshman Jacob Fox won a pair of events to lead the No.17-ranked Ohio Northern men’s track and field team to a its fifth consecutive victory at Friday Night Series Meet No. 5 at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears scored 230.5 points to easily outdistance themselves from their nearest competitor, Tiffin (162). Finishing behind Tiffin were Baldwin-Wallace (119), Wilmington (100), Defiance (56.5), Franklin (16), Cedarville (10) and Bluffton (5).

Fox won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.75 and jumped 21-10.25 to win the long jump.

Also earning victories were junior Justin Linzy and sophomore Joe Amstutz.

Linzy ran a time of 6.58 to win the 55-meter dash, while Amstutz cruised to victory in the 200-meter dash in 23.54.

Freshman Garrett Brown placed second behind Fox in the 55 hurdles with a time of 8.21, while freshman Ryan Fleming was on Linzy’s heels to finish second in the 55 with a time of 6.61.

Sophomore Brandon Pritchard and freshmen Jeff Messmer and Shane Huntley each picked up top-3 finishes to round out the top sprint performances.

Messmer was second in the 400-meter dash in 54.85, Pritchard was third in the 200 in 24.59 and Huntley ran a time of 1:09.74 to place third in the 500-meter run.

Alan Bowsher edged five other runners all within a half-second of each other for second-place in the 1,000-meter run in a time of 2:37.53.

Also earning seconds were junior Eric Porter in the 1-mile run (4:27.38) and sophomore Adam Sheetz in the 5,000-meter run (17:29.79).

Earning thirds were sophomore Nick Edmonds in the 3,000-meter run (9:13.22) and sophomore Robert Money in the 5,000 (17:31.11).

Freshman Timothy Yeh had a pair of runner-ups in the field events.

Yeh was second in the long jump with a mark of 20-09.75 and second in the triple jump with a distance of 41-04.5.

Ohio Northern returns to action next Friday and Saturday at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships hosted by Otterbein in Westerville.