Men's Track & Field Stands in 2nd After Opening Day of OAC Indoor Championships

2/25/2022 11:02:00 PM | By: Joe Ginley '16, SID

The Blue Streaks experienced great results to open the 2022 OAC Championships.

ALLIANCE, Ohio -- The Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships returned to a two-day format this year after a one-day show in 2021. The return to the norm brought back the whirlwind of emotions that is the indoor conference meet.

The Blue Streaks experienced more ups than downs in the opening day of the meet.

And as a result, the Blue Streaks sit in second entering the second day.

Day 1 Results

"Today showed what a rollercoaster a two-day championship can be," said Head Coach Kyle Basista. "Our freshmen and sophomores haven't experienced it because last year was only one day. We'll look at the scoreboard, but we're on track where we want to be. It is a two-day championship for a reason, and we put ourselves in position to hopefully execute tomorrow."

The day began with the field events, with the long jump and weight throw. Jimmy Kartsonas leaped to a spot on the podium with a mark of 6.74m (22-01.50). A tireless worker, Kartsonas spent countless hours prepping for his moment, and he crushed it. Corey Minton notched an eighth-place finish with a mark of 6.35m (20-10.00). Willis Goodwin also nabbed a 10th place mark of 6.26m (20-06.50). In the weight throw, Zach Szafarski finished 10th at 15.84m (51-11.75).

The track events opened with the 500m. Caleb Correia stole the spotlight, roaring for a time of 1:05.85, which earned second place for JCU. Evan Piscitani pocketed eighth in 1:08.18, Mick Doyle marked down 11th (1:08.70) and Zach Walsh followed at 1:09.12 in 12th.

The 400m dash also proved to be quite close. Garrett Clark counted a time of 49.40 for second place. Mark Zahren raced hard for a seventh-place time of 51.30, vaunting across the finish line just .01 second ahead of the next racer.

In the sprints, Clark and Kartsonas clinched spots in the 60m dash finals tomorrow. Clark enters as the very narrow favorite, as he finished atop all comers in the prelims with a time of 7.00. Kartsonas came in close behind at 7.05. Zach Gerber will also be racing tomorrow in the 60m hurdles. The senior from Aurora crossed the finish line at 8.60, fourth amongst the prelim runners.

The 5000m provided history for the Blue Streaks. To no one's surprise, Alex Phillip absolutely smashed the OAC record. What was surprising to some observers was the margin. The star scored a time of 14:22.61, breaking the record by 24 seconds.

The rest of the pack also deserves a heaping of praise. Jared Arnold tallied a time of 14:58.10, earning third. Barrett Scheatzle continued his great year, with a time of 15:01.63 for fourth. Andrew Miner captured a sixth-place time of 15:12.17, as well.

John Carroll finished things out with the DMR. Cam Klauke, Gabe Ernest, Cormac Peppard-Kramer, and John Shoemaker worked together for a time of 10:30.53, which was good for third and All-OAC honors.

"It was a good finish for the day," said Basista. "We were hoping for a bit more, but we like to see all relays be in the all-conference conversation and we did that. Overall, we competed. We had some tight finishes in the 500m with Zach Walsh, the 5k with Andrew Miner, and the 400m with Mark Zahren. We are competing the whole length of every event, which is all you can ask for."

Entering Day 2, the team scores are as follows:

1. Mount Union 92, 2. John Carroll 56, 3. Wilmington (Ohio) 43, 4. Ohio Northern 35, 5. Otterbein 24, 6. Capital 11, 7. Marietta 4, 7. Baldwin Wallace 4, 9. Heidelberg 3, 10. Muskingum 1

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