February 25, 2016
Betz wins hurdles title; Wolverine men sixth at PAC Indoors
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Junior Nick Betz (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon) won his second-straight conference title in the 60-meter hurdles to lead the Grove City College men's indoor track and field team saw seven school indoor records fall en route to a sixth-place finish at the 2016 Presidents' Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at Youngstown State University's Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) on Thursday evening.
Betz claimed the title with a victorious time of 8.42 seconds, matching the meet record that he set in winning the title a year ago. Betz was also a member of Grove City's runner-up 4x400 relay, teaming with sophomore Quaide Simek (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional), junior Ryan Buchalter (Colorado Springs, Colo./Colorado Springs Christian) and senior Brandon Ward (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) to post a school indoor record time of 3 minutes, 24.40 seconds.
Junior Daniel Christiansen (Frederick, Md./Frederick) finished second individually in the 5000 by breaking his own school record with a time of 15:28.23 while Buchalter also broke his own indoor record in the 400 with a fifth-place time of 50.37 seconds.
Junior Mike Cole (Leesburg, Va./Flint Hill) led Grove City's field athletes by breaking a pair of his own school records, taking fourth in the triple jump with a best mark of 41 feet, seven inches (12.68m) and leaping 19 feet, 11 inches (6.07m) to finish 10th in the long jump.
Grove City recorded a new indoor record in the distance medley relay, as junior Andrew Mascio (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley), senior Josh Dunsworth (Erie, Pa./Strong Vincent), sophomore Drew Thibault (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) and freshman Matt Werner (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser) combined for a fourth-place time of 11:06.95. Sophomore Connor Lowe (Perry, Ohio/Perry) recorded the Wolverines remaining school record of the night, finishing eighth in the shot put with a best mark of 43 feet, 4.5 inches (13.22m).
Dunsworth added an individual seventh-place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:01.45 while sophomore Nick McClure (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) joined Christiansen on the podium in the 5000 with an eighth-place finish in 16:20.73. Freshman Ryan Budnik (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) took ninth in the mile (4:40.30), junior Nate Henry (Mays Landing, N.J./ACIT) was ninth in the triple jump (12.20m) and freshman Matt Schallus (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seneca Valley) was ninth in the high jump (1.68m).
A handful of Wolverines have qualified for the 2016 ECAC DIII Indoor Track & Field Championships, to be held next Friday and Saturday, March 4-5, in Staten Island, N.Y.
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