Men's Indoor Track and Field Post Solid Day at Jim Wuske Invite

(ALLIANCE, OH)--Mount Union's men's indoor track and field team had a number of solid performances at the Jim Wuske Invite in a newly remodeled Peterson Fieldhouse within the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance.

The event named after former Mount Union cross country, track and field coach Jim Wuske was the first college event in the newly remodeled Peterson Fieldhouse which was expanded from 160 meters to a 200 meter NCAA regulation track featuring nine straight away lanes.

The Purple Raiders went 1-2-3 in the men's shot as senior Judd Lutz (Tiffin/Tiffin Columbian) placed first (49-5.5), freshman Jesus Garza (Round Rock, TX/Stony Point) second (47-8.5) and sophomore Sean Denard (Naperville, IL/Naperville North) third (46-10.5).

Freshman Charles Pratt (Canton/GlenOak) finished second in both the 55 meter dash (6.58) and 200 meters (22.89) and combined with sophomore Cory Hoover (Alliance/Marlington), juniors Ben Russell (Columbus/Hilliard Davidson) and Kory Smerk (Middleberg Heights/Midpark) to win the 4x400 meter relay (3:28.26).

Smerk also placed second in the 400 meters (50.56), junior Scott Wolfe (East Palestine/East Palestine) was second in the 5000 meters (15:58.99) while senior Scott Thomas (Salem/West Branch) and freshman Jon Karmazin (Salem/United Local) both got third place finishes in the 200 meters (22.99) and 1000 meters (2:50.64) respectively.

Junior Ty Griffin (Massillon/Massillon Perry) and sophomore Tim Kelly (Lakewood/Lakewood) rounded out the men's top performances as they finished second (1:55.84) and third (156.42) in the 800 meters.

Mount Union will compete next weekend at the All-Ohio Indoor Championships at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio.