GREENCASTLE, Ind. — Led by a strong showing in the field, Wilmington College finished fifth at the DePauw Tiger Invitational on Saturday.
The Quakers totaled 58 points in the seven-team event that was won by Vincennes with 119.
The day’s excitement actually started before the competition as the journey to Greencastle — normally a 3.5-hour trip — took six hours.
“Our distance medley relay team literally walked off the bus and had to go straight to the start line,” Wilmington head coach Ron Combs said. “It was an adventure all day, but the end results were pretty good. We got to run at the site of this year’s national meet, and that is important. I was really proud of how well the kids handled the adversity.”
On the track, Josh Richardson (Cincinnati/North College Hill) was sixth in the 55-meter hurdles.
The 4x400 relay team of Austin Stiles (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe), Brad Orr (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe), Brandon Bruner (Cincinnati/Shroder) and Mitch Howard (Germantown/Valley View) finished fourth. The vast majority of WC’s points, though, were provided by jumpers and throwers.
“We felt like the field events were going to be a source of strength for us, and we just keep getting better every week,” Combs said. “We have a lot of young guys in those events, and they are making big strides every week for us.”
Freshman Mason Metts (Pomeroy/Meigs) continued to move closer to the team shot put record (48-5.25) with a throw of 47-0.25 to finish third behind a pair of throwers from Division I Indiana State.
“That record is going to go,” Combs said. “Mason is a great kid and he is working super hard. I will be surprised if he doesn’t get it in the next couple weeks.”
Howard finished third in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump, while Bruner was third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump.
C.J. Potter (Covington) placed fifth in the weight throw and sixth in the shot put.