BC's Sohl Repeats as Athlete of the Meet, Five Records Set

HAMPTON, Va. --- Lynchburg College out-paced Bridgewater College, 154-118, to claim its 28th overall and 17th straight ODAC men's indoor track championship on Sunday at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton, Va.  The Hornets won a meet-best seven events and were involved in three of the five records established on the day.  Washington and Lee University round out the top three with 80 points.

Bridgewater's Luke Sohl repeated as the ODAC Athlete of the Meet, while LC mentor Zach Haupt was tabbed the ODAC Coach of the Year.  Washington and Lee distance runner Mac Strehler earned ODAC Rookie of the Year honors, and Roanoke College's A.J. Bernstein picked up ODAC/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete accolades.

Sohl, a junior from Burke, Va., knew of nothing but winning on Sunday as he claimed a pair of individual events.  He won the mile run in 4:22.69, an event he won in 2013.  He then crossed the line first in the 3,000-meter run in 8:45.20, just 0.26 shy of the meet record he set last season.

Haupt is in his first year guiding Lynchburg.  He previously spent the past two seasons as an assistant at MIT.  This is his first ODAC top coaching honor.

Strehler, a freshman from Moseley, Va., competed in a pair of distance events.  He won the 5,000-meter run, posting a time of 15:23.38.  He also placed seventh in the 3,000-meter run in 9:11.11.

Bernstein, a senior from Germantown, Tenn., boasts a 3.840 grade point average as a Business Administration major.  A Roanoke College Bittle Scholarship recipient, Bernstein has earned several academic distinctions including RC's Greek Top Scholar Award and induction into the Delta Mu Delta business honor society.  On the track on Sunday, Bernstein finished second in the 800-meter run in 1:56.91, just 0.06 seconds off first place.  He also helped RC to a sixth place finish in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:31.23.

Greg Wilson got things rolling for LC in the meet's first event, winning the weight throw and setting a new ODAC meet record with a toss of 56' 11.25".  He also captured the shot put title with a mark of 52' 5.5".  Evan Truman narrowly out-jumped teammate Zachary Kezar in the long jump, reaching a winning distance of 22' 5.0".  Tom Sippie won and set a new meet record in the 400-meter dash, registering a time of 49.11 seconds.  Rachad Davis did one better with his new ODAC standard, resetting his own overall and meet records in the 60-meter hurles in 8.33 seconds.  Sippie and Davis joined Tristan Boysaw and Curtis Whitlow in winning the 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:23.97.

Virginia Wesleyan College's Randy Lott took home the remaining two sprint titles.  He set a new meet record in the 200-meter dash, posting a time of 22.17 seconds.  He came up 0.03 seconds short of adding a second record in the 60-meter dash as he clocked a winning time of 6.87 seconds.

Bridgewater added three more wins on the day.  Nevin Heckman out-paced Bernstein in the 800-meter run to win in 1:56.85.  Stefan Vessels reached a distance of 45' 4.5" to capture the triple jump title.  The team of Kevin Morris, Trey Gibson, Keith Thomas and Ethan McBryde won the distance medley relay in 10:38.13.

The remaining record of the day went to Eastern Mennonite University.  Jordan King cleared 6' 9.0" in the high jump, besting the previous record by a half-inch.

For more information on ODAC women's indoor track, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter.