Staten Island, NY. - With the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Indoor Track & Field Championships in the rearview mirror, the Wheeling University Indoor Track & Field team made their way to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, New York. They were competing for a chance to qualify for the 2025 NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field National Championships as they took on the Ocean Breeze FastTrack Last Chance Invitational. It was a big day for the distance team, taking home three of the four top 10 finishes on the day for the Cardinals.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was
Shane Levesque, who competed in both the 800-Meter Dash and the 3000 Meter Run. His biggest performance of the day came in his first event when he took on the 800-Meter Run, an event in which he has been very familiar with this season. He would put his name in the Wheeling record books, running a time of 1:57.41, putting himself third all-time in the event for the Cardinals. It was good enough to take home 8th overall in the event as he set a new PR to start the day. He would come back with another top 10 finish to round out the day in the 3000 Meter Run, setting his second PR of the day. He would run a time of 4:24.57 to finish ninth in the field and continue his streak of PR performances. Levesque has not hit a PR in three straight events, and looks to continue that success into outdoor season.
The lone field event of the day was the Men's Triple Jump, with
Kabwe Bwalya coming off a big PR performance at the conference championships. He would have the highest individual placement of the day, taking fourth in the event, reaching a distance of 13.97 meters. The final top 10 finish of the day would also come in the distance events, with Magnus Polkner taking on the Mile Run. He would take 8th place overall, running a time of 4:28.41 and setting a new PR in the event. The final three events would come in short distance in the 60-Meter, 200-Meter, and 400-Meter Dashes. The top sprinter was
Jan Wray, who took 27th in the 60-Meter (7.20) and 34th in the 200 (23.26). Alfonso Martinez would round out the 200, taking 61st with a time of 25.00, and Drew Pierce rounded out the day taking 42nd in the 400 with a time of 55.55.
The Wheeling University Men's Indoor Track & Field team well now wait to see if they have any qualifiers for 2025 NCAA DII indoor track and field national championships, before getting ready for outdoor season.