Bowsher sets school record in 5,000-meter run to lead Men's Indoor Track & Field to 3rd place at All-Ohio Championships

WESTERVILLE — Senior Alan Bowsher captured the 5,000-meter victory and shattered the previous school record to lead the Ohio Northern men's indoor track & field team to a third-place finish of 19 teams at the All-Ohio Championships hosted by Otterbein on Saturday afternoon.

The Polar Bears improve to 29-3 on the year with 56.50 points in the meet. Ohio Wesleyan won the event with 114 points, while Mount Union finished in second place with 66 points.

Bowsher finished the 5,000-meter run in 15:04.07, breaking the previous school record by more than six seconds (15:10.54). He dominated the race, crossing the finish line more than 19 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Northern was very successful in the pole vault, as senior Jacob Weyrauch, junior Andy Lammers and senior Scott Underwood all scored points and set season highs for the Polar Bears.

Weyrauch led the way with a second-place finish by clearing an NCAA provisional qualifying height of 15-3.

Lammers finished just behind in third place at a height of 14-11, while Underwood picked up a point in eighth place at 13-5.25.

Ohio Northern earned other second-place finishes in the mile run and the 4x400-meter relay.

Sophomore Dan Smith ran a season-best 4:19.42 to finish second in the mile, and senior Mike Johnson, juniors Shane Huntley and Evan Heyman and sophomore Jake Schwab teamed to finish second in the 4x400 in 3:25.09.

Huntley, Heyman and Schwab partnered with junior Ryan Fleming in the 4x200-meter relay to finish third in a season-best 1:31.57.

Schwab and Fleming also earned points for Northern in individual events. Schwab was fifth in the 400-meter dash with a season-best 50:47, as Fleming was sixth in the 55-meter dash in a season-best 6.67.

Junior Tim Polack was another Polar Bear to post a season-best mark, finishing in a tie for seventh place in the heigh jump after clearing 6-2.

The distance medley relay team of Johnson, juniors Patrick Rachow and Travis Isenberg and sophomore Nick Baker finished eighth in 10:55.18.

The men's track & field team will have athletes competing at both Kent State and Capital next Saturday.