CONWAY, SOUTH CAROLINA – Senior Mitch Supan (Medina/ Walsh Jesuit) won a pair of events and four Yellow Jackets combined to win the 4x100-meter relay to lead the Baldwin Wallace University men's and women's outdoor track and field teams at the Coastal Carolina University Snowbird Invitational Meet today (Saturday, March 9, 2013).
In addition to competing at Coastal Carolina, BW will train all next week in Jacksonville and then travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to compete at the annual University of North Carolina Charlotte 49er Invitational Meet on Friday and Saturday, March 15-16.
Supan won both the men's discus with a throw of 166-feet and four-inches and the shot put with a toss of 55'0.25" to lead the way for the men. Senior Zach Marinucci (Brunswick) placed fourth in the hammer with a throw of 158'5" and freshman Tyler Burdoff (Painesville/ Riverside) was eighth at 127'5". Burdoff also finished 10th in the shot put with a mark of 44'8".
The 4x100-meter relay team of juniors Shawn Cordes (Litchfield/ Medina Buckeye), Josiah Holt (Elyria/ Grafton Midview) and Kevin Johnson (Maple Heights/ Cleveland St. Ignatius), and freshman Ben Biedelman (Washington D.C.) placed first with a time 42.43 seconds. The men's 4x400-meter team of Johnson, Biedelman, sophomore Ryan Weir (Lodi/ Cloverleaf) and freshman Jarod Conrad (West Lafayette/ Ridgewood) placed fifth in 3:25.69.
In addition to his exploits on the relay teams, Johnson also was third in the 100-meter dash in 10.98 seconds and Holt placed 10th in the 400-meter dash in 50.48 seconds. Sophomore Brandon Eddy (Cuyahoga Heights) highlighted the jumpers by placing fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 15'1".
The Yellow Jacket women were led by the quartet of seniors Kaylan Lemon (Canton/ Perry) and Lauren Nanni (Parma/ Padua Franciscan) and freshmen Ashley Wakut (Seven Hills) and Melanie Winters (Stow), who finished seventh place in the 4x100-meter relay in a time of 50.97 seconds.
The women's 4-by-400 meter relay team Wakut, freshman Samantha Lang (Akron/Green) and juniors Nicole Smith (Geneva) and Brooke Hradisky (Aurora) ran a 4:02.76 and placed ninth. In addition, junior Blair Vrcan (Mentor) clocked a 12:26.69 in the 3000-meter steeplechase to come in seventh, and freshman Kim Gallavan (Aurburn Township/ Kenston) came in ninth in the shot put with a throw of 37'9" and 10th in the discus with a throw of 120'6".
On the first day of the trip, BW was led by senior CAPITAL ONE Academic All-American distance ace in senior Kenny Janosko (Mentor) who won the 10,000-meter run in a career-best 31:02.15. In addition, the 4x200-meter relay team of Conrad, Weir and Alex Evers (Middlefield/ Burton Berkshire) and Beidelman placed first in 1:32.87.
Other Yellow Jackets who placed in the Top-10 of their respective events included Supan, Marinucci and senior thrower Jake Buckey (Geneva), senior women's 10,000-meter runners Shaina Kovatch (Parma/ Valley Forge) and Dusica Vasic (Broadview Heights/ Brecksville-Broadview Hts.), and 5,000-meter student-athlete Kali Fittro (Tiffin/ Columbian).
Supan, a three-time NCAA Division III All-American, placed fourth in the hammer throw with a throw of 187-feet and one-inch. Marinucci placed eighth with a toss of 162'9" and Buckey was 10th in the hammer throw at 157'8" and sixth in the javelin with a throw of 178'8". Kovatch was fifth in the 10,000 with a time of 38:24.45 and Vasic was eighth at 40:55.22. Fittro placed 10th in the 5,000 in 19:32.01.
Following its southern spring break trip, the Yellow Jackets compete in their first northern meet on Saturday, March 30 at the Ohio Athletic Conference East Split Squad Meet at Marietta College.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
