New Wilmington, PA. – After not competing on day one, the Wheeling University Outdoor Track & Field opened the Westminster Invitational on Saturday. As they continued to grow in their events, it was the young stars that shined, racking up five top 10 finishes in the effort. It continued the team's push towards the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the end of the month.
The success was split between the track and the field events, with the field events taking the top honors. It came from Felix Manyani, who continued his success in the Men's Javelin with a second place finish. He would hit a distance of 58.25 meters, going over the 55 meter mark for the second time this season. He got his success started early, hitting his high mark for the day on his first throw. He took six throws in total, with three of those going over 50 meters, while two of those were no throws. He entered the event as the MEC's leader in the Javelin and one of just 11 athletes across the conference to hit the NCAA Provisional mark in their event. He was just 1.46 meters off his season-high mark of 59.71 meters, which he got at the season-opening event at the Marty Pushkin Invitational.
On the track, the top mark of the day went to Kris Vigars, who took sixth place in the 400-Meter Hurdles. He would end up taking sixth overall with a time of 58.29 seconds, continuing the rapid decline of his time in the event. He set a new PR for the fourth event in a row, dropping 0.50 seconds off his time from the Cherry Blossom Invitational . He would finish third in the field among the NCAA DII athletes of the event, finishing just under two seconds behind CAL-U's Aidon Lett. The effort moved him into the top 10 in the conference, placing him ninth among conference runners with one more chance to lower his time. The final top ten finish from the field events would come courtesy of Alexander Rodriguez, who took seventh in the Pole Vault. He would reach a height of 4.37 meters, falling just .03 meters under his height from Cherry Blossom. He would also take third among NCAA DII competition, finishing beging a pair of Slippery Rock vaulters.
The final two top 10 finishes came from the distance crew with Hunter Tomich and Redick Moore each earning top 10 marks. Tomich would be up first in the 3000 Meter Steeplechase, taking 8th in the field with a time of 10:29.60. It was a new PR for the senior for the second event in a row, as he dropped 21 seconds off his time from the Tim Weaver Invitational earlier this season. He would take fourth among DII runners and third in the MEC behind a pair of runners from Point Park. The other top 10 finish from the distance crew came from Redick Moore as he took on the 10000 meter run for the first time in his career. He would equal Tomich's effort, taking eighth in the field while leading all NCAA DII runners. The effort put him just outside the top 20 in the MEC and, with one more event remaining, he has a chance to climb even higher in the event.
In the sprint events, the Cardinals would have three run in the 100-Meter Dash to start the day, with all four placing in the top 40. Taven Mayo would lead the group, running a time of 11.89, while Roy Paz (12.00) and Abenezer Yirdaw (12.04) took 46th and 47th respectively. Tyler Crook would be the other track competitor for the Cardinals, taking 43rd in the 800 with a time of 2:21.13. The final competitor for the Cardinals was Marcelin Tote, who competed in Long Jump. He hit a distance of 4.63 meters to take 23rd and round out the night.
The Wheeling University Men's Outdoor Track & Field team returns to action on Friday, April 17th at the Otterbein Twilight meet.
