By: Erin Madden
BEREA, Ohio - The Baldwin Wallace University men's indoor track and field team placed second at the first home meet of the season, the Dr. William Taraschke Team Challenge on the Harrison Dillard Track inside the Lou Higgins Center.
The Yellow Jackets finished second of three teams with a total of 86 points. Otterbein University won the meet with 123 points.
On the track, BW notched three individual event wins from three different student-athletes. Senior distance runner Jose Reynoso (Painesville/Harvey) got things started when he won the 5,000-meter run in a time of 16:26.28. Freshmen sprinter Marcus Price (North Ridgeville) picked up a victory in the 400-meter dash in 55.38 seconds.Finally, sophomore distance runner Kyle White (Mount Gilead) beat out the competition in the 1,000-meter run, winning in a time of 2:44.20.
A pair of career-best times came from senior distance runner Andrew Krupp (Ottawa Hills) and White in the 1-mile run. Krupp finished as the runner-up in 4:25.49 while White placed third in 4:33.62. Krupp also finished as the runner-up to White in the 1,000-meter run in a time of 2:47.90. Freshman sprinter Desmond Manley (Akron/St. Vincent-St. Mary) took second behind Price in the 400, crossing the finish line in a time of 55.55 seconds. Sophomore distance runner Casey White (Mount Gilead) placed second in the 3,000-meter run in a time of 9:21.49.
Junior thrower Jake Mantle (North Royalton) took third in the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, 11.25 inches and freshman thrower Joe Barnes (West Plains, Mo.) was not far behind in fourth place with a mark of 38'9.75". Mantle also placed fourth in the weight throw with a mark of 39'3.25".
As the lone team in the distance medley relay, sophomore distance runner Lucas Simonetti (Pittsford, N.Y./Sutherland), freshman distance runner Gehrig Stanley (Twinsburg/Benedictine), sophomore distance runner Hunter Evans (Milford/Archbishop McNicholas) and freshman distance runner Jackson Tucker (Akron/Lake Center Christian School) combined to add seven points to BW's team total with a time of 11:59.55. The 4x400-meter relay team of freshman sprinter Mason Birkbeck (Wadsworth), junior distance runner David Prather (Hardin, Mont.), Manley and Stanley finished second in a BW season-best time of 3:44.05.
BW will next compete on Sunday, February 14, in the OAC Elite Meet, which will be split between two locations. The distance and throwing events will be contested at Otterbein inside the Clements Recreation Center while the sprints and jumps will take place at Capital University inside the Capital Center Field House.
