LYNCHBURG, Va. --- Weather may have delayed the start of the ODAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but that didn't keep the athletes from shining under the lights at Lynchburg College. Bridgewater College's men own a 60-55 lead over the host Hornets in the team standings, while the conference's other set of Hornets, Shenandoah University, maintains the narrowest of leads at 59-58 over the Eagles in the women's ranks.
Meet Results
Saturday's Start Lists
Event Schedule
Shenandoah's success started right after nearly three hours of delays as Shelby Shrader won the opening 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:45.62, the best mark by an ODAC runner this season. While Shrader picked up 10 points for her squad, the Hornets captured an additional 23-of-39 possible points in the hammer throw. Danyelle McGrady won the event with a throw of 46.00 meters, while Morgan Smith made it a 1-2 SU sweep at 42.03 meters. Hannah Glover chimed in fifth at 38.31 meters, and Laura Allen garnered the event's final point in eighth position at 34.40 meters.
Three other field events and one long-distance run also crowned women's champions on Friday. Roanoke College's Kerri Dalton took home the 10,000-meter run title in 38:15.30. BC's Kristen Trice locked up high jump gold after clearing 1.63 meters, while Washington and Lee University's Dana Lee donned the long jump crown for the third straight season with a mark of 5.64 meters. The shot put capped the day's completed offerings as Virginia Wesleyan College's Michelle Yates heaved the apparatus 11.75 meters to stand atop the field.
Both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 10,000-meter run provided fireworks in men's action. Roanoke's Harrison Toney, the 2015 ODAC cross country individual champion, set a new meet record in the steeplechase with a winning time of 9:21.67. Three athletes did the same in the 10,000-meter run, but it is LC's Andrew Osborne that will ultimately find his named etched next to the event entry as he won the race in 31:49.56. W&L's Mac Strehler and BC's Robert Hiegel also eclipsed the previous meet standard with times of 31:50.32 and 32:14.91, respectively.
Two of the four completed field event titles went to Eagles' athletes. Isaac Evans earned first place points on attempts over W&L's Davis Turner after the two cleared 1.86 meters in the high jump. BC's Davonta Womack claimed the men's long jump with an ODAC season-best leap of 7.07 meters, which ties for 10th in NCAA Division III entering the weekend.
Eastern Mennonite University's Jeremy Heizer and W&L's Patrick Robertson improved upon their own ODAC-leading marks in the shot put and hammer throw, respectively. Heizer won the shot put at 16.21 meters, improving upon his natioanlly 11th-ranked mark of 16.19 meters. Robertson bettered his hammer throw distance by nearly a meter as he won the event with a mark of 48.75 meters.
Competition on Saturday begins with the pole vault at 10:00 a.m. The first track event, the 4x100-meter relay, is slated to start at 1:00 p.m. For additional championship information, visit the ODAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships website. Be sure to also check out the host website from Lynchburg College.
For more on ODAC Outdoor Track & Field, 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.