Posted: Jan 10, 2015

Doug Raymond Invitational

On Saturday, January 10, the University of Findlay men's and women's track and field teams traveled to Kent, Ohio where the Golden Flashes of Kent State hosted the Doug Raymond Invitational.

Women

Senior Kendra Averesch brought home a first place finish in the shot put, an event in which excelled throughout her career. The standout tossed the shot a distance of 50'8.5", a distance that automatically qualifies her for the NCAA Championship event later this year.

Averesch also earned an NCAA provisional in the weight throw on her second toss that measured 56'02.00". That throw was good enough for a second place finish in the event. Close behind was teammate, senior Anna Knapski whose throw of 55'04.75" earned her an NCAA provisional and third place in the event. A third provisional mark for Findlay was met by sophomore Erica King who tossed the 20-lb weight a distance of 54'11.25", good enough for fourth place.

In high jump, Junior Lydia Guagenti was rock-solid as she soared to a height of 5'4.75", earning her second place and the exact height needed to meet the NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

In long jump, senior Taylor Ackerman's jump that distanced 17'2.25" earned her second place in the event. Also in the event was freshman Milani Glass who took third as she leaped to a distance of 16'2".

In the 200m dash, senior Shelby Stump took third place in her heat with a time of 26.80. In heat five, freshman Laura Hernandez finished in second place with her time of 27.03.

Stump was also the best finished for Findlay in the 400m dash as she took second place in her heat with a time of 1:00.65. Also earning points was junior Lydia Guagenti, whose time of 1:01.03 earned her a third place finish in heat two.

Junior Erica Bettac was busy in the mile as she ran to a seventh place finish with her time of 5:15.22.

Men

The Findlay men were well represented in the shot put, earning four of the top five spots, and were led by senior Mathieu Marcoccia who took first place in the event with a toss that distanced 55'10.25". Senior standout Justin Welch's throw of 55'2.5" earned him a second place finish in the event while sophomore Ben Hahler took third (54'11.25"). Senior Taylor Miller took fifth place in the event with his throw of 53'4.5". Each of these throws earned NCAA provisional status.

The Oilers also dominated in the weight throw and were led this time by Welch who tossed the 35-lb weight a distance of 68'5.25". That throw is an NCAA provisional and was just 5.11 inches short of an automatic qualifier. An athlete from Kent State took second, but then Findlay took places three through seven. These finishers were senior Brian Jennings (55'4.5"), Miller (54'11.75), Hahler (53'4), sophomore Mitch Adkins (51'6.75), and junior Parker Schroeder (50'0.75").

Sophomore Alexander Zolotoglavyy earned another first place finish for Findlay as he brought home the championship in the long jump with his leap of 23'7", an NCAA provisional for the event.

Senior Demorrio Leggett was back to form in the triple jump as his distance of 37'6.25" was good enough to earn him second place and an NCAA provisional.

In the 200 meter dash, sophomore Maliik Briggs took second in his heat with a time of 23.07 while senior teammate Dillon Webster ran a similar time, 23.19, and taking fifth in heat number one.

Webster also competed in the 400 meter dash. Again in the first heat, his time of 49.44 earned him third place in the event. Briggs was close behind and, with his first place finish in heat number two, took fourth overall as he ran a time of 50.82.

Freshman teammates John Davis and William Lee competed for the Oilers in the 800 meter run and took third and fourth places with times of 2:06.83 and 2:16.99, respectively.

The Oilers men and women will be back on the track this coming Friday, January 16, as they will host the Northwest Ohio Invitational