Alliance, Ohio – April 30, 2011 - The Heidelberg University track and field teams, under the guidance of first-year head coach Briana Shook, participated in the 2011 Ohio Athletic Conferece Outdoor Track and Field Championships over the weekend. The event was hosted by the University of Mount Union. The men finished in fourth place with a total of 99 points.
Heidelberg had eight All-OAC honorees and three first-place finishers.
Nate Davis (Dayton, Ohio / Stivers) led the way with a first-place and NCAA automatic qualifying mark in high jump with a career-best and Heidelberg record breaking leap of 6’11”. The mark breaks Davis' own record he set a year a go. Davis is only the second high jumper in the country to earn an auto mark (Tyler Hannam, Monmouth (Ill.)).
Davis also earned fourth in long jump (22’1”) and fifth in triple jump (44’8.75”)
Joe Yoder (West Liberty, Ohio / West Liberty Salem) followed with a first place finish in the 400 meter hurdles, while improving his provisional mark at 53.06. Yoder also earned third in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.26 and fifth in high jump (6’5.5”)
Rounding out the first place finishes for the Berg was the 4x400 meter relay team who clocked in at 3:17.36. Completing the quartet was Josh Bowmar (Marengo, Ohio / Highland), Seth Robertson (Burton, Ohio / Newbury), Yoder, and Terrence Horton (Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington).
Bowmar also earned All-OAC honors in javelin with a toss of 165’4”and in the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.62, finishing third in both.
Robertson finished second in the 400 meter dash (49.60), while Jordan Karnes (Edgerton, Ohio / Edgerton) also placed second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (9:29.60).
Finishing in the top-five was the 4x800 meter run relay team consisting of Jacob Hoffman (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby), Logan Leis (Zanesfield, Ohio / Benjamin Logan), Horton, and Drew Avesec (Geneva, Ohio / Geneva) for fourth place (8:00.20) and the 4x100 meter relay team consisting of Gibril Kamara (Westerville, Ohio / Central), Jamil Boldian (Chicago, Ill. / Urban Youth), Larry Massey (Royal Oak, Mich. / Wylie E. Groves) and Justin Burnett (Springfield, Ohio / Northwestern) clocking in at 43.12 for fifth place.
Avesec also finished fifth in the 1,500 meter run (3:59.61).