Molinaro wins Distance Runner of the Year to lead Men's Track and Field at the OAC Outdoor Championships
By: Ashley Birchmeier
ALLIANCE – Freshman Matt Molinaro earns Distance Runner of the Year to lead Ohio Northern men's outdoor track and field team on the final day of the 2015 Ohio Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on Saturday, hosted by Mount Union.
The Northern coaching staff of head coach Jason Maus, assistant coaches Casey Gantt, Kyle Armstrong, and Stephan Johnson earned Coaching Staff of the Year.
"Earning coaching staff of the year is a reflection of the team, we dont win this honor without the team performing well," said head coach Jason Maus. "My whole staff, coach Gnatt, Johnson, Armstrong, and trainer Krisi Stauffer makes us well rounded."
The Polar Bears (57-5 overall) finished second out of 10 teams with 181 points.
N0. 4-Mount Union won the team title with 190 points and John Carroll claimed third with 124 points.
Molinaro earned All-OAC honors in the 1,500-meter run and the 800-meter run winning both respectively.
The freshman won the 1,500-meter run in 3:56.82 and claimed the 800-meter run in 1:55.38.
Senior Phil Farwig earned All-Conference accolades in the shot put, finishing third with a toss of 14.26 meters.
In the hammer throw, sophomore Lucas Shumate finished second and garnered All-OAC honors with a pitch of 55.25 meters and teammate Farwig finished fourth with 48.97 meters.
Freshman Brandon Emert garnered All-OAC honors in the 400-meter hurdles with a second place finish in 54.96 seconds.
Sophomore Aaren Hemmelgarn posted a strong finish in the 5,000-meter run claiming second and All-OAC accolades with a time of 15:08.85. Senior Nathan Rosenbaum claimed fifth, junior Matthew Ernstes sixth, and sophomore Kase Schalois seventh in the race.
Junior Robbie Brinkman claimed third in the 110-meter hurdles and earned All-OAC honors with a time of 15.49 seconds. Craven finished fourth in the event in 15.50 seconds and senior Ryan Brancheau finished sixth in 15.88 seconds.
In the 4x100-meter relay, the team of freshman Denorris Turner, senior Jonathan Roseler, junior Christian Rupe, and junior Jojuan Fisher finished third in 42.50, garnering All-OAC honors.
Roseler also finished fourth in the 400-meter dash in 49.27 seconds, while freshman Conner Karg finished seventh in 49.86 seconds.
Rupe earned All-Conference accolades in the 100-meter dash, finishing third with 10.94 seconds. Fisher claimed eighth in the event with 11.20 seconds.
In the 200-meter dash, Rupe also finished third claiming All-OAC honors with a time of 21.92 seconds.
In the high jump, freshman Alexander Sibila finished fourth clearing a height of 1.95 meters, senior Ryan Brancheau finished fifth with a height of 1.95 meters, and freshman William Wilson finished eighth with a height of 1.85 meters.
Sophomore Andrew Harden finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run in 4:01.05 and junior Eric Wymer finished seventh in 4:02.59.
Brancheau finished seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 13.03 meters.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Rupe, Karg, Rader, and Roseler placed seventh with a time of 3:28.50.
Kyle Wagner earned eighth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.59.
"The men have a great balance and we gained great momentum on day one and it just carried throughout the weekend," said Maus. "The kids built off that momentum and it brought out the true team aspect of track and field, our seniors performed great and have done so much for this team."
Team Scores: 1. Mount Union 190, 2. Ohio Northern 181, 3. John Carroll 124, 4. Otterbein 94, 5. Heidelberg 65, 6. Baldwin Wallace 63, 7. Wilmington 39, 8. Capital 36, 9. Muskingum 22, 10. Marietta 5.
