Mens Track and Field

Will Sawyer '16 Sets School Record in the Pole Vault, Bryan Marsh '13 Wins Second Event in Two Weeks for Men's Track

With nine teams participating in the Flat Track Invitational at Wesleyan Sat., Jan. 26, Wesleyan had a pair of first-place finishes on the track and a school record in the pole vault to highlight the meet.  Will Sawyer '16 (right side photo) added six inches to his previous efforts as a Cardinal to clear 13-11 1/4 while placing second in the pole vault and eclipse the Wesleyan indoor record of 13-8 1/4 set in 1967.  First-place finishes were turned in by cross-country All-American Bryan Marsh '13 (left side photo by SteveMcLaughlinPhotography.com), as he ran a smart 3,000m race, pulling away from a pair of Bowdoin competitors for a 2.5-second margin of victory with a time of 8:28.11, and Sam Roth '13 as he came through in 4:26.41, victorious by 4.3 seconds in the mile.  Wesleyan also had a pair of third-place finishes from Tal Leveran '15 in the 800m and Luca Ameri '15 in the 600m.

A week earlier, in the 13-team Wesleyan Invitational III Sat., Jan. 19, Sawyer cleared 13-5 1/4 for the second straight week to win the pole vault for the third consecutive week.  Also capturing first place in an event was Marsh as he ran a personal best in the mile, timed in 4:19.31.  He bested a field of 36 other runners in the race with a winning margin of 3.5 seconds.

Wesleyan had three other individuals with a top-three finish as Jack Pacelle '13 captured third in the 200m, Sam Roth '13 was second in the 1000m and Agbon Edomwonyi '16 had a second-place toss in the shot put.

Wesleyan went on the road for the first time this season when a contingent of Cardinals traveled to Tufts for the annual Stampede Invitational Fri.-Sat., Feb. 1-2.  There Wesleyan picked up 12.5 team points to finish 16th among 20 scoring teams.  Posting top-8 finishes for Wesleyan were Edomwonyi in the shot put (6th, 44-4 1/4), Sawyer in the pole vault (tied for 6th, 13-7 1/4), Alex Ward '16 in the long jump (7th, 20-9) and the 4x200m relay squad of Luca Ameri '15, Jack Pacelle '13, Ward and Paulie Lowther '13 (4th, 1:35.49).

Ahead for the team was to be the Collegiate Track Championships at Wesleyan Sat., Feb. 9, but the meet was cancelled due to Winter Storm Nemo.  As a result, nine Cardinals ventured back to Tufts Mon., Feb. 11 to take part in the Cupid Challenge.  Marsh had the best Cardinal finish by placing second in the 5k with a time of 14:35.91.  Roth was fifth in the mile (4:19.38) and Ward took fifth in the long jump (19-7).

The next action for the team comes up Fri.-Sat., Feb. 15-16 at Bates for the annual New England Division III Championships.