Men's Track & Field 5/6/2022 9:13:00 PM Joe Ginley '16, SID

Men's Track & Field Comes Oh-So-Close to a Fairytale Ending at OAC Championships

John Carroll nearly unseated the defending champs for the 2022 crown.

BEREA, Ohio -- You could not have scripted it any better for the 2022 Ohio Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

An on-the-rise John Carroll squad led by a charismatic coach against a juggernaut 10-time defending champion Mount Union.

A tie entering the final race. Just the 4x400 relay to determine the victor between the Blue Streaks and Purple Raiders.

Unfortunately today the script did not include a fairytale finish for the Blue Streaks, as John Carroll fell short in the final race, and thus oh-so-close to the program's elusive second OAC outdoor title.

Final Results

But still, it was a heck of a two days for the Blue Streaks. John Carroll punched above its weight class, hanging all the way against a Purple Raider team with strong depth that's dominated the conference for the last decade.

"Those are the positions you want to be in to win a championship," said Head Coach Kyle Basista. "Mount Union has historically won and had a good 4x400. They've always tried to run a B team and my goal has always been to try to get them to run their A team. They had to run their A team, and credit to our guys, we hung with them the whole way. I'm so proud of this men's team and our program. We had alumni from the 2002 team, George Sample and Eric Biro, come out today. For them to take the time to be here was great. I think today is a good indication of where our program is at."

The Blue Streaks were rewarded with hardware for their all-out effort to unseat the Purple Raiders. Individually, Alex Phillip took home the Jim Wuske Outstanding Distance Athlete and Garrett Clark won the Harrison Dillard Outstanding Sprint Athlete. And the JCU coaching staff (Kyle Basista, Daniel Tutskey, Jordan Doore, Bryce Basista, Vince Minniti, and Chris Lamphier) shared the OAC Coaching Staff of the Meet award.

The day opened with nice success in the field events. Corey Minton, Jimmy Kartsonas, and Willis Goodwin notched 3-4-5 in the triple jump to start. Minton led the pack with a mark of 13.26m, Kartsonas followed at 13.24m, and Goodwin finished it off at 13.00m.

Matthew Russo enjoyed a breakthrough in the shot put. The freshman tallied a throw of 14.28m for All-OAC at third place. Zach Szafarski also scored seventh at 13.67m.

In the hammer throw, it was Zach Szafarski's time to shine. He hurled a toss of 51.78m for an All-OAC finish in third place. Noah Schroeder finished just outside the top eight with a mark of 44.46m.

The Distance Duo did the job again today. First, Alex Phillip and Jamie Dailey conquered the 1500m. Phillip vanquished the field with a winning time of 3:51.89. And with a last lean over the finish line, Dailey secured his spot on the podium with a third-place time of 3:53.77. Dailey certainly earned his time on the podium. Also scoring for JCU were Matt Costanzo (3:59.56, 6th), Ian Pierson (4:01.81, 7th), and Pat White (4:02.13, 8th).

"Coming off a 10k, that fast 60 second lap never feels good," joked Phillip. "We knew what we had to do, and we put ourselves on the line to compete. That's what Jamie and I do best, I'm very happy with that result."

And later on in the day, the Blue Streaks got a huge boost in the 5000m. Trailing by 20 points, the Blue Streaks came all the way back to tie it, thanks to the distance squad's excellent work.

Alex Phillip did the trick as per usual in the 5k. Wilmington's Simon Heys set the pace in the early going, but Phillip slowly climbed towards him before overtaking him later in the race. Phillip busted the OAC record with a time of 14:26.23, vanquishing the field for the third time of the meet.

"He's obviously had a pretty busy and long year," said Basista. "We always ask a lot out of him. He was only going to run the 5k if we needed him, and we did. We all know how goog Alex Phillip is, and he continued it today."

Cormac Peppard-Kramer had a huge showing in the event, too. The Irishman from Lakewood hung with Phillip for much of the race, and snagged third and a spot on the podium with a time of 14:36.06. Jamie Dailey ended a very busy meet with a fourth-place effort of 14:39.08. Ryan Champa (14:55.94) and Jared Arnold (14:56.05) also provided points in seventh and eighth places.

The sprints were a major highlight for the Blue Streaks today.

The track events opened with a victory for the Blue Streaks. Mick Doyle, Garrett Clark, Mark Zahren, and Cam Klauke combined to win the 4x100 relay. The quartet combined for an OAC Championship time of 41.98.

Garrett Clark got the 100m and 200m sweep for the Blue & Gold. He began with a victory in the 100m, earning 10 points with a wonderful time of 10.68. Jimmy Kartsonas battled for fourth in the event with a time of 11.18.

Clark followed it up in the 200m with another conquering time of 21.49. And right behind him was Mark Zahren, who happily notched second place with a time of 22.05.

"Garrett is the epitome of this team, especially on the sprints side," said Basista. "He always shows up in the conference meet for us. We hope this is a sign of great things to come the rest of the season."

Mick Doyle came oh-so-close to his first OAC crown in the 400m hurdles. The Chicago native was eked out by a foe from Otterbein for first place, but Doyle's dash to second place with a time of 55.25 was still very impressive.

In the 110m hurdles, Zach Gerber scored seventh with a time of 15.62. It was a wonderful way for the senior to end his career after dealing with many injuries along the way.

In the 800m, four Blue Streaks scored in special fashion. Ethan Domitrovich anchored the pack, clocking in at 1:54.28. Caleb Correia followed close behind, timing at 1:54.61. Gabe Ernest nabbed sixth at 1:55.40 and Michael Hvizdos notched seventh at 1:56.60.

And to complete the day, Mark Zahren, Caleb Correia, Cam Klauke, Garrett Clark snagged second in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:20.06.

"Today is what the conference meet is all about," said Phillip. "Everybody putting their body and mind on the line, doing everything they can to help the team succeed. I felt like I did that, I know Jamie did that, and there are plenty of other guys who did that. We did our best, and we got a good result. We got a lot of steam heading into nationals and we know we can beat these guys on the national stage. We're ready for what's next. God Bless Kyle Basista."

"I'm proud of these kids," said Basista. "I'm excited for what's to come the rest of the season."

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