Women's Results
Men's Results
BEXLEY, Ohio—The Otterbein University men’s and women’s track and field teams kicked off the indoor season at the Capital Purple & White Invitational held Saturday in Bexley.
“We didn’t come in here and expect to tear it up team-wise, since we have just about two-thirds of the team here,” said Otterbein head coach Dave Lehman. “I told the kids that what I was looking for was a good team atmosphere, and, hopefully, some good performances.
“But mainly I was looking for a good team atmosphere, a starting point to tell us where we are, and then we can go from there,” Lehman continued. “I think I’ve seen that today.”
Otterbein, competing with most of its distance runners idle, who were resting from a long cross country season, turned in some promising performances. The men’s squad scored 71.5 points to finish fourth in the ten-team field. The women’s team tallied 29 points to place seventh.
Andrew Mantell paced the men’s team, turning in the sole win among both squads. Mantell took the mile in 4:27.03. Other top finishers on the men’s team were Arnez Franklin, second in the 400 meters (51.64); Aaric Milligan, second in the pole vault (4.42m); and Devon Fitzgerald, third in the 60-meter hurdles (8.81).
A pair of freshmen, Damani Barnes and Arthur Douglas, placed high in the jumps. Barnes finished fourth in both the high jump (1.83m) and long jump (6.46m). Douglas placed third in the long jump (6.54m).
The women’s team competed well in the field. Freshman Riley Eversole opened her collegiate career with a third-place finish in the high jump (1.48m). Kristen Norris took fifth in the long jump (4.95m) while Liza Elliott placed seventh in the weight throw (12.3m) and ninth in the shot put (10.05m).
On the track, Rachel McKeever took sixth in a strong field in the 60-meter hurdles (9.74) and eighth in the 200 meters (29.34). Jasmine Troyer placed fifth in the 60-meter dash (8.29).
The Cardinals will be off for more than a month before returning to action Jan. 19 for the Otterbein Invitational.
