WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Two separate meet records fell in the Baldwin Wallace University men's outdoor track and field teams sixth-place performance at the April Fools Invitational, hosted by Otterbein University inside Memorial Stadium.
BW finished sixth of 17 overall teams with 44 points. Host and fellow Ohio Athletic Conference institution Otterbein won the meet with a total of 160 points.
In his very first meet of the 2019 season, senior indoor All-American sprinter Jordan Leverette (Cleveland/John Adams) swept both his events and broke two April Fools Invitational records in the process. The senior put up a career best and meet record 10.72 seconds for the best time in the 100-meter dash preliminaries. Leverette then followed it up with another career-best time of 10.55 seconds to win the finals. The only runner to break 11 seconds at the meet, his 100-meter time tops all of NCAA Division III at the time of the meet. Leverette also won the 200-meter dash and posted another meet-record time, this time in 21.96 seconds which ties for the 12th-fastest time nationally.
Staying on the track, freshman distance runner Nate Matthews (Marietta) finished seventh in the 400-meter dash in 51.95 seconds. Sophomore distance runner Larry Salerno (Mentor) ran a career-best time of 10:34.44 to place ninth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
In relay action, the quad of freshman distance runner David Prather (Hardin, Mont.), freshman distance runner Joe Juda (Strongsville), Matthews and senior Academic All-OAC sprinter Brandon Cole (Vermillion) combined for a fifth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay in a season-best time of 3:36.65.
Out in the field, senior All-OAC thrower Zak Dysert (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) won the hammer throw with a mark of 194 feet, 9 inches. The senior also placed third in the discus throw and ninth in the shot put with marks of 146'9" and 42'3.25". Freshman thrower Matthew Staley (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) finished eighth in javelin throw when he tossed 117'8".
BW returns to action on Saturday, April 6, when the Yellow Jackets compete in the John Homon Open, hosted by the University of Mount Union inside Mount Union Stadium.
