ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Wilmington College men’s track and field team scored five All-Ohio Athletic Conference performances Friday on the final day of the 2023 OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mount Union’s Kehres Stadium.
The Quakers’ hammer throws squad swept the podium and had four of the top eight finishers. JJ Durr won the OAC title with a heave of 192-5 while Nathan Borgan (183-6) was second and Nate Marcum (177-11) was third. Senior Andrew Pacifico finished sixth (172-2).
In the shot put, Mike Soltis took fourth (48-8.75) while Justin Shuga (48-0.5) was sixth and JJ Durr (46-4) eighth.
Brady Vilvens rounded out the field events by picking up All-OAC honors with a season-best mark of 6-6.25 in the high jump, which placed him runner-up. The Wilmington High School graduate also earned the Quakers three points in the triple jump with a sixth-place leap of 43-3.
Dane Klosterman started up track events for WC on Friday with a pair of scoring performances in hurdle events. Klosterman finished seventh (15.65 seconds) in the 110-meter hurdles and eighth (57.72 seconds) in the 400-meter hurdles.
Simon Heys earned his second All-OAC honor in as many days, placing runner-up in the 5,000-meter run (14:31.87). Teammate Noah Tobin was seventh (14:56.07).
On the women’s side, Madison Dietz was eighth (33-2) in the triple jump. Camaya Calloway heaved a significant personal best of 154-2 to place fourth in the hammer throw. Abby Lodewyck took seventh (147-1).
The Quakers opened the day on the track with a sixth-place finish in the 4×100-meter relay. Dietz, Kylee Schafer, Jaineen Smith and Rachel Spanfellner crossed the finish line in 50.50 seconds. The same four individuals closed out the championships for WC, turning in a time of 4:23.33 in the 4×400-meter relay.
Schafer was fourth (12.46) in the 100-meter dash while Dietz finished sixth (12.54). Schafer also finished fourth in the 200 in 25.64 seconds.
The Quakers will send individuals to last chance meets in the coming weeks with hopes of improving times for qualification to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the end of the month.
