Men’s Track and Field Places Ninth at OAC Indoor Championships

Junior distance runner David Prather was a member of the fourth-place distance medley relay team at the 2021 OAC Championships (Photo courtesy of Megan Miller/Otterbein University)

Posted: Mar 06, 2021

By: Erin Madden

WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The Baldwin Wallace University men's indoor track and field team wrapped up the indoor season with a ninth-place finish at the 2021 Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, hosted by Otterbein University inside the Clements Recreation Center.

BW finished ninth of 10 teams with 13 points while the University of Mount Union claimed its ninth-straight team title with a total of 217.5 points.

The distance medley relay team of sophomore distance runner Kyle White (Mount Gilead), freshman distance runner Gehrig Stanley (Twinsburg/Benedictine), junior distance runner David Prather (Hardin, Mont.) and senior distance runner Andrew Krupp (Ottawa Hills) combined for the Yellow Jackets' best finish on the track and earned five points toward the team total. They placed fourth in a BW season-best time of 10:42.94, which was just over two seconds away from a podium finish. That relay time currently ranks 10th across all of NCAA Division III.

Sophomore hurdler ShaDaryll Clark (Brook Park/Berea-Midpark) posted a season-best time of 8.61 seconds to qualify to the 60-meter hurdle finals. He eventually finished fifth in a time of 8.64 seconds, earning four points for the team and improving one spot over his OAC showing from his freshman campaign.

Both of the other two relays claimed seventh-place finishes, starting with the 4x200-meter relay. Stanley, freshman sprinter Mason Birkbeck (Wadsworth), freshman sprinter Marcus Price (North Ridgeville) and Clark crossed the finish line in a BW season-best time of 1:37.36. The 4x400-meter relay team of Prather, Stanley, Price and Clark closed out the afternoon with yet another season-best time of 3:40.66.

After recording no height in his collegiate debut last week, sophomore jumper Luke Salmon (Sandusky/Perkins) cleared 12 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault to tie for 13th, which was the best result for BW in the field. Junior thrower Jake Mantle (North Royalton) achieved a career-best mark in the weight throw of 46'7.5", which saw him place 15th.

The Yellow Jackets will begin the outdoor season on Saturday, March 20, when they head down to Marietta College to compete inside Don Drumm Stadium.