CHESTER, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Track and Field grabbed four medals on the final day of the 2018 MAC Outdoor Championships and moved into fourth place with solid results throughout the day and a few spectacular performances.
Grant Fisher became Eastern's first male athlete to medal in a throwing event when he placed third in the Javelin. Fisher, in his first year throwing the spear, is 25th in the nation at this moment. He will throw again at a couple 'last-chance' meets to try to work his way into the top 20 for an invite to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
DaShawn Dale finished second in the Pole Vault with a new personal best mark of 4.15 meters. The freshman scored in his second event of the weekend when he matched the height of the winner, but finished second on misses.
Ethan Dionne finished tied for fourth.
Frantzy Sainvil picked up the day's other silver with a huge PR in the Triple Jump. The sophomore sat in second with a 14.38 meter jump after four jumps, but a Stevenson jumper moved in front of him with an impressive jump of 14.47 meters. Sainvil saw the mark and hit all three phases of his jump well to hit 14.59 meters and move back into the silver medal position. Sainvil, who came to Eastern with long jump as his top event, had never surpassed 14 meters outdoor in the triple jump before today. He is currently 17th in Division III in the event.
With the top-20 marks qualifying for the NCAA National Meet, Sainvil will likely compete at at least one 'last-chance' meet to try to move to a more secure distance. Delaware Valley's Ta'riq Thomas posted the third-best jump in the nation this year to win the event.
Jhaunell Burnside ran a nearly flawless 400m Hurdles to take third in the event. Burnside ran with Sainvil, Dionne, and
Evan Wildermuth on the 4 x 100 Relay that took seventh and with Dionne,
Rob Gritzer, and
Rusty Batykefer on the fifth place 4 x 400 meter relay team.
Greg Thomas posted a 15:00.7 in the men's 5,000m to claim five points only two days after taking the bronze medal in the 10,000m.
Rusty Batykefer got in on the scoring action and picked up a point in the 1500 Meters.
"We really showed up big," Head Coach
Mike Wilson said after the meet. "I was hoping to see us in the top five, and a fourth place finish was a result of all the guys rallying together. I could not believe a 7:54 relay in the 4 x 800 Meters left us in fifth. I think we all knew at that point we had to take it up even another notch.
Greg Thomas had a monster 10,000 / 5,000 double. Third in the 10k was very rewarding to watch and to follow it with a 4th place in the 5k was awesome.
Frantzy Sainvil and
Evan Wildermuth hit national-level marks in their respective jumping events. These guys log countless hours of training and don't bring attention to it; to see them go all-conference and stand up on that podium... it was so rewarding after having near misses or injuries last season or indoor. There were so many moments of that nature... so many guys had huge weekends and showed up when it mattered most."
The finish is the highest for the Eagles in their three years competing in track and field. In 2016, the team scored seven total points in two events.
"I told our guys the same thing I told the girls, "Wilson said. "We rallied together. They worked together. They supported each other. The difference between this year was "together" instead of "me." The last race told the story of the meet. We knew going in that DeSales was probably going to win the 4 x 400 and that we needed at least a fifth place finish to stay in fourth. We put
Ethan Dionne on anchor and asked a ton from the freshman. He delivered a 51.4 leg in an event that he does not run. That's a huge run for the team, and represents the mentality our guys had all weekend long. I'm very proud of this group."
The Eagles will take a few competitors to last chance qualifier meets in hopes of taking a number of athletes to the NCAA Division III National Championships in late May.
