Columbus, OH. – After starting the last chance schedule on Friday, the Wheeling University Men's Track & Field was back at it on day two of the Jesse Owens Classic on Saturday. The field events continued to take the lead, with the Cardinals having one athlete in competition. They would add their third top 15 finish of the weekend, but just missed hitting the NCAA DII provisional mark on the weekend.
The lone Cardinal in competition was Alexander Rodriguez, who looked to continue his success in the Pole Vault. Coming off winning the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Outdoor Track & Field championship in the event earlier in the week, Rodriguez would notch another top 15 finish, taking 12th with a height of 4.61 meters. He would end up passing on the first height of the night, 4.41 meters and entered the competition at the 4.61 meter mark and failed on his first two attempts at the height. However, on the third attempt, he was able to get up and over the bar and moved up to the height of 4.76 meters. He would go through all three tries, but was unable to get over the bar, finishing his night at 4.61 Meters. It was .06 meters above his height at the conference championship event, and he will have a couple more tries to hit the provisional mark as the season goes on.
The rest of the Wheeling University Men's Track & Field team will be announced later this week.
