Four first-place finishes in field events aid Men's Track & Field in comanding win at Polar Bear Invite

By Monique Bowman

ADA-The Ohio Northern men's track and field team recorded 203 points in its first place finish at the Polar Bear Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.

Macomb came in second with 84 points, followed by Oakland with 61.

Northern earned seven top-spot finishes on the day, including all but one field event. Senior Joe Gutter won the weight throw at 54-8, while sophomore Tommy Steinberger won the long jump at a season-best 19-8.

Sophomore Brett Bomba and freshman Mike Howell each earned first in their respective events. Bomba won the triple jump at 40-7 while Howell won the shot put with at 43-7.

In running events, freshman James Rader won the 500 in 1:08.83, junior Jacob Rettig won the 5,000 in 16:08.37 and freshman Jeffery Denny finished the mile in 4:45.31.

"This was a small, low key meet. Our primary focus was to tune up for the conference meet next week," head coach Jason Maus said. "We got a few folks qualified for next weekend so this was a good way to prep."

Northern seeks to defend its 2011 indoor title next weekend, competing at the Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor championships at Otterbein, next Friday and Saturday.

Friday's events begin at noon and Saturday's events begin at 10 a.m.