April 16, 2016
Grove City men finish fourth at Westminster Invite
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's track and field team had its best outing of the spring season to finish fourth in the 25-team Westminster College Invitational on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Westminster's Memorial Field.
Junior Dan Christiansen (Frederick, Md./Frederick) led the Wolverines by winning the 5000 with a time of 15 minutes, 8.09 seconds -- the best time in the Presidents' Athletic Conference this season. Junior Nick Betz (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon) finished second in the 110 hurdles in 15.55 seconds and then teamed with junior Ryan Buchalter (Colorado Springs, Colo./Colorado Springs Christian), sophomore Quaide Simek (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) and senior Brandon Ward (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) to close the meet with a third-place finish in the 4x400 relay in a season-best time of 3:25.49.
Sophomore Drew Thibault (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) posted the conference's best time of the year in the 3000 steeplechase to finish third in 10:00.10 while classmate Quinton Reed (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) led the Wolverine throwers with a third-place showing in the javelin (53.25m) and an 11th-place finish in the shot put (12.77m). Junior Andrew Mascio (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) joined Thibault with a fifth-place finish in the steeplechase in 10:09.00 while Buchalter took fifth in the 400 in 49.74 seconds.
Ward took seventh in the 400 hurdles in 58.80 seconds, just edging fellow senior Dane Mossgrove (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) and his eighth-place time of 58.82. Earlier in the meet, Ward and Mossgrove also posted nearly identical times (16.883 and 16.884 seconds, respectively) in the 110 hurdles while competing the event in separate heats.
Freshman Ryan Budnik (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) joined Christiansen among the 5000 leaders with a ninth-place time of 16:16.21 while senior Joshua Dunsworth (Erie, Pa./Collegiate Academy) broke the two-minute barrier in the 800 for the first time in his career with an 11th-place time of 1:59.17.
Grove City returns to action on Thursday when they complete at the PAC North Quad as part of the Slippery Rock University Open at 1:30 p.m.