ALLIANCE, Ohio – Presents came early for the Mount Union indoor track and field teams as the women won seven events and the men won six events at the annual Toy Drive Invite Saturday at Peterson Field House.
On the women's side, sophomore Bri Aveni (Geneva) set a school record in the pole vault winning the event with a mark of 12-feet, 2.75-inches.
Other event winners included senior Sarah Mason (Alliance / Marlington) in the one-mile run (5:18.38), sophomore Kennady Gibbins (Navarre / Fairless) in the high jump (5-5), junior Cortni Arp (Copley) in the 200 meters (26.85) and senior Katie Durisin (Painesville / Riverside) in the 5000 meters (18:26.79).
Mount Union also went 1-2 in the 500 meters as juniors Hailey Miller (Louisville) and Calista Waters (Beloit / West Branch) finished at 1:23.09 and 1:25.27.
Second place finishes came from junior Sabrina Stocker (Madison) in the 60-meter hurdles (9.32), freshman Kenadee Wayt (Wheeling, W.Va. / Wheeling Central) was second in the 60-meter dash (7.92), sophomore Audrey Bishop (Creston / Norwayne) in the triple jump (33-3.25).
For the men, the Raiders went 1-2 in two events as defending co-national champions in seniors Connor Troyer (Sugarcreek / Garaway) and Mason Plant (Shreve / Triway) did it in the 60-meter hurdles with times of 8.17 and 8.18 respectively while freshmen Blaine Kitchen (Tontogany / Otsego) and Kyel Wolff (Cuyahoga Heights) went 1-2 in the pole vault with marks of 14-2.5 and 13-8.5.
Freshman Matt McBride (Conneaut) at 49.43 and senior James Roth (Massillon / Perry) at 49.58 took the top two spots in the 400 meters as the Raiders swept the top six places in the event.
Mount Union also went 1-2-3 in the 500 meters with senior Mitchell Milem (Columbus / St. Charles) at 1:08.14, freshman Josh Momeyer (Livonia, Mich. / Livonia Central) at 1:09.50 and junior Ethan Griffin (Salem / West Branch) at 1:10.08.
Junior Evan Hershberger (Dalton) won the men's high jump with a mark of 6-feet, 8-inches and the 4x400 meter relay team of Griffth, Momeyer, sophomore Benny Shafer (Streetsboro) and freshman Blake Phillips got the win at 3:33.65.
Two second place finishes from freshman Justin Knoch (Canton / GlenOak) in the 800 (2:01.37) and sophomore Noah Shriver (Ashland / Crestview) in the 1000 (2:47.78) while senior Cody Fitzwater (Dalton) posted a pair of seconds in the triple jump (42-3.25) and long jump (20-11.75) to round out the results.
The Raiders next are on the track January 17, 2020 at the Youngstown State Invite.
