Marable | Verhoff Lead Oilers at G-MAC Championship
Tiffin, Ohio - The University of Findlay men's and women's track and field team completed day two of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship on Saturday, February 29. The men's team finished as the runner-up with 121 points while the women took fourth with 89.
Men
Sophomore Xavier Marable claimed the gold medal in the 400 meter dash as he crossed the finish line in 47.59 seconds, which is the second fastest time in conference history. It also was good enough to reach the provisional in the event. He also won the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.86 with freshman Josh Verhoff coming in second at 21.92. Verhoff also claimed the silver in the 60 meter dash at 6.91.
Findlay's 4x400-meter relay team of Marable, senior Gavin Stepansky, sophomore Lane Kolb, and freshman Nick Rice also claimed gold after they crossed the finish line in 3:22.47. Marable's big day allowed him to secure G-MAC Track Athlete of the Meet honors while Verhoff's big championship enabled him to capture G-MAC Freshman of the Meet.
Senior Martin Etsey earned himself a conference championship in the men's triple jump with a provisional qualifying mark of 14.99m (49-2.25), which is the second-best jump in league history. Sophomore Justin Dreyling claimed the bronze in the event as well with a mark of 13.92m (45-8.00).
In the pole vault, sophomore Ryan Stevens claimed the silver medal as he recorded a height of 4.71m (15-5.50) while freshman Jacob Michael tied for the fourth place at 4.26m (13-11.75).
Junior Sterling Mungro finished fifth in the shot put with a provisional mark of 16.78m (55-0.75).
Sophomore Keandre Marlow continued his competition in the heptathlon events on day two, and ended up placing third overall in the events with a total score of 4,697. He also took fourth in the high jump at 1.97m (6-5.50) while freshman Chris Cooper finished third at 2.02m (6-7.50).
Women
Senior Hannah Hahler was the runner-up in the shot put with a provisional qualifying throw of 14.84m (48-8.25). It was also the third-best mark in league history and she is tied for ninth nationally in the event.
In the high jump, freshman Alexa Fries reached the height of 1.64m (5-4.50), which was good enough for second place. Freshman Simone Green took the silver medal in the triple jump as well at 11.05m (36-3.00).
Freshman Bethany Smith took fourth in the 400 meter dash, bolting through the finish line at a time of 59.09 seconds while the Oilers 4x400 team of
The women's 4x400 meter relay team clocked in with a finishing time of 4:04.53, which was fast enough to place fourth in the event.
The Oilers who qualified for the Division II National Championships will compete on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14.