WESTERVILLE, Ohio / COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Roberts Wesleyan track and field teams spent the weekend in Ohio between two different invitationals with runners competing in the Otterbein Twilight Invite and the Jesse Owens Classic at Ohio State University.
At the Otterbein Twilight Invitational the Redhawks had six top five finishes and four individual winners.
Ryan Karker won the men's 400m race and broke the Roberts all-time record with a time of 49.11. The previous record was 49.92 set in 2007 by CJ Dates. In the women's 400m race, the Redhawks claimed first place as well with
Abigail Gostomski winning in 58.89, which is the fourth best time in Roberts history.
In addition to success on the track, the throws crew put together excellent performances with multiple personal records broken.
Maya Pelayo earned first place in the Javelin with a throw of 33.85 meters. It was Pelayo's second individual win of the season. Freshman Danaea Jeffers had her best day in the discus throw with a toss of 31.25 meters.
In the men's throwing events,
Demar Osbourne and
Brandon Roman both posted new personal bests. Osbourne placed fourth in the shot put with a PR throw of 13.57 meters while Roman recorded a distance of 40.04 meters in the hammer throw.
"The biggest move forward this weekend was the throwers," said head track and field coach
Mark McCown. "To have the throwers step up and get into what would be conference scoring positions is huge."
At Ohio State University and the Jesse Owens Classic, senior
Bailey Gostomski hit an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark in the 1500m with a time of 4:31.74. Gostomski was just .2 seconds from matching the all-time Roberts record in the event. Gostomski also ran her best ever 800m time, crossing the line in 2:15.78, which is tied for fourth all-time at Roberts.
Jimmy Betts ran his second best 1500m time of 3:53.53 which is his best mark of the 2022 outdoor season.
"We've provided the athletes a number of great opportunities this track season at some fantastic meets," said
Andrew Dorr, Director of XC and Track and Field. "They've had the chance to improve throughout the season and progress as we head towards the end of the season and conference championship time. We are going to look ahead and keep moving forward."
Other notable performances included:
- Hailee Lowe finished 5th in the 100m hurdles (15.55) at Otterbein
- Kylee Odell won the 1500m (4:53.08) at Otterbein
- Kylee Odell set a personal best in the 800m (2:18.65) at Jesse Owens Classic
- Abigail Gostomski ran 2:13.85 in the 800m at Jesse Owens Classic
- Lee Sortore took 3rd and set a new personal best in the 5000m (15:10.90) at Otterbein
