Tigers Rally To Finish Third In NCAC Indoor Championships

GAMBIER, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers rallied on Day 2 of the 2016 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships as the Tiger men placed third in the final standings and the Tiger women claimed fifth.

Both teams stood seventh after the first day of the competition, in addition to the multi-events competitions that took place a week earlier. A final day filled with personal-best performances and several new school records boosted Wittenberg's men to 79.5 points, behind only Ohio Wesleyan and Wabash, and Wittenberg's women to 78 points, trailing Ohio Wesleyan, Oberlin, Denison and Allegheny. The Gators finished just one point ahead of the Tigers.

While individual finishes did a great deal to power Wittenberg to the strong team scores, so did depth. Afterwards, Head Coach Paris Hilliard saluted a "total team effort."

"I am extremely proud of this group of young men and women," said Hilliard, who served as head coach of the Tigers in a league championship for the first time. "They competed hard and never gave up. Many freshmen stepped up for us when we needed them most. We had numerous personal-best and several all-conference athletes."

The individual highlight was turned in by senior Brea Medlock (Galena, Ohio/Big Walnut), who earned her second straight NCAC Indoor Sprinter of the Year award. She broke the school record en route to first-place finishes in both the 60-meter and 200-meter races, and her time of 7.73 was good for a conference record as well.

Medlock added two more All-NCAC awards in the 4x200-meter and 4x400-meter relay events, running the anchor leg both times. She was joined by sophomore Sara Richards (Columbus, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln), junior Frankie Bowsher (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) and junior Alaina Longshore (Columbus, Ohio/Franklin Heights) in the former and Longshore, Bowsher and freshman Samantha Mitchell (Solon, Ohio/Solon) in the latter. The Tigers broke the school record with a time of 4:00.97 in the 4x400-meter relay.

Medlock appears to be a good bet to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Championship meet for a second straight year as well. She stands in the top 15 nationally in both the 60-meter and 200-meter events.

Other Tiger women to earn all-conference awards included Longshore with a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash and senior Jordan Crow (North Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde) in third in the 60-meter hurdles. In addition, senior Becah Delp (York, Pa./Eastern York) took third place in the pentathlon competition that took place a week earlier at Ohio Wesleyan.

On the men's side, the Tigers picked up a first-place finish from senior Aaron Melsop (Westerville, Ohio/DeSales) in the long jump to go along with a relay win in the 4x400-meter event. Melsop posted a mark of 6.77 meters to pull away from the field in the long jump, and the quartet of freshman Jalen Fultz (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield), sophomore Cody Shutt (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson), senior Laike Wallace (Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) and freshman Matt Entsminger (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) topped the field in the 4x400-meter relay by a whopping 11 seconds.

Other All-NCAC performances were turned in by Wallace, who took second in the 400-meter race and fourth in the 60-meter hurdles (while setting a school record with a time of 8.46 in the prelims), senior Justin Fisher (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll), who placed third in the triple jump, and freshman Eric Cospy (Trotwood, Ohio/Madison), who took second in the weight throw and broke a school record in the process. In addition, Fultz, Fisher, Entsminger and freshman Ryan Hale (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) teamed up to place third in the 4x200-meter relay.

Written By: Ryan Maurer