Wilmington, Ohio. – April 2, 2010 – After a three-year hiatus, the Heidelberg University men’s track and field team is back on top at the Ohio Athletic Conference Black Meet. The Berg earned a first place finish with a total of 211 points. The event was hosted by Wilmington College.
Heidelberg steadily improved all marks with having 23 top-three finishes, while having seven first-place finishes. It was the most points the Berg scored in the meet since 2007, when it finished first with 148 points.
The Berg continues to improve under second-year head coach Keith Roberts Jr. Last year Heidelberg finished second with 136 points.
Leading the way was freshman Nate Davis (Dayton, Ohio / Stivers School for the Arts). Davis earned a provisional mark and a second place finish in high jump with a jump of 6’9.50”. His jump sets a school record that was previously held by Darren Nelson (6’8.25”).
Three of Heidelberg’s relays teams finished in the top three, while two of them won their respective event.
The 4x100 meter relay team consisting of senior duo Julius Higginbotham (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) and Paris Hilliard (Lorain, Ohio / Admiral King) and freshman duo Justin Burnett (Springfield, Ohio / Northwestern) and Gibril Kamara (Westerville, Ohio / Central) earned first place and finished with a time of 42.34.
Higginbotham also scored points for the Berg with a second place finish in the long jump with a jump of 22’3.75”.
The banning together of sophomore Josh Bowmar (Marengo, Ohio / Highland), senior Sean Hancock (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview), sophomore Shondell Thomas, and freshman Lance Kitchen (Urbana, Ohio / Liberty) finished first of the pack in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:25.35.
Senior Mark Childs (New Albany, Ohio / New Albany), sophomore Jamie Martin (Wooster, Ohio / Triway), junior John Distler (Mentor, Ohio / Mentor), and freshman Bobby Over (Wadsworth, Ohio / Wadsworth) earned second place in the 4x800 meter relay, crossing the finish line at 8:05.29.
Over also took home first place in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:06.51. Over’s time was more than three and a half seconds faster than the second place finisher.
The Berg swept the top-three finishes in the 400 meter dash and in the 5000 meter run.
In the 400 meter dash, junior Terrence Horton (Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington) earned first place with a finish of 49.65. Following right behind Horton was Bowmar who picked up second place (50.04) and Childs who crossed in 50.15.
Heidelberg claimed the first five spots in the 5000 meter run. Claiming the first three was senior Jamie Kuess (Coldwater, Ohio / Coldwater) (15.51.27), sophomore Jordan Karnes (Edgerton, Ohio / Edgerton) (15:53.61), and senior Jacob Lemon (Oak Harbor, Ohio / Oak Harbor) (16:16.76).
Rounding out the first-place finishes for the Berg was freshman Josh Lynch (Dayton, Ohio / Meadowdale). Lynch took first in the triple jump with a leap of 42"9.75”.
Kitchen finished second in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 57.39, while freshman Dominque Washington placed second in discuss with a throw of 127’4”.
Earning third-place finishes was Thomas in the 800 meter run (1:59.26) and junior Frank Medina (Wakeman, Ohio / Western Reserve) in shot put with a toss of 43’4.50”.