Men's Indoor Track and Field opens home schedule with victory in 2nd Annual Lydic Invitational
January 16, 2026
ADA — The Ohio Northern men's indoor track and field team opened the home portion of its 2026 schedule with a victory in the 2nd Annual Rob and Patty Lydic Invitational on Friday evening.
The Basics
- Ohio Northern finished first of four teams with 206 points.
- Record: Ohio Northern (8-2 Overall).
- Manchester (Ind.) was second with 117 points, Indiana-East was third with xx84points and St. Francis (Ind.) was fourth with 65 points.
- Venue: ONU Sports Center Fieldhouse - Ada, Ohio.
Top ONU Performers
- Senior Zach O'Neill (Holland/Maumee Valley Country Day) won the 400 dash in :53.25 and was on ONU's winning 4x400 relay team.
- Sophomore C.J. Boothby (Milford/Clermont Northeastern) won the 60 dash in :06.96.
- Sophomore Asu Pelima (Euclid/Villa Angela-Saint Joseph) won the 500 in 1:09.42.
- Freshman Luke Stouffer (Payne/Wayne Trace) won the shot put at 14.60 meters.
- Freshman Elijah Thompson (South Vienna/Northeastern) won the pole vault by clearing 4.47 meters.
- Freshman James Durham (Hiram/Crestwood) won the 60 hurdles in 8.51 seconds.
- Freshman Jacob Wireman (Lima/Bath) won the 1,000 in 2:39.04.
- Freshman Owen Fockler (Dennison/Indian Valley) won the 200 in :22.69.
- The 4x400 relay team of junior Grant Conn (Medina/Buckeye Senior), O'Neill, freshman Cale Wilson (Clarksville/Clinton-Massie) and freshman Jared Ryan (North Royalton/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) won in 3:29.88.
Notables
- The meet consisted of 17 events with six field events, nine running events and two relays.
- The Polar Bears won 10 of the events to post the convincing team victory.
- Durham's :08.41 prelim time in the 60 hurdles in the second-best in ONU history in the event.
- The 4x400 relay team set a Lydic Invitational meet record with its 3:29.88 finish.
- Head Coach Jason Maus is in his 17th year at Ohio Northern and is 709-167 in men's indoor track and field for a winning percentage of .809. He is ONU's all-time winningest coach in track and field history.
Up Next
- The Polar Bears will return to action Jan. 23 when they travel to the Hillsdale (Mich.) Wide Track Classic.
