Tigers Collect First Place Finishes on Day One of NCAC Outdoor, Davis Sets Record
Gambier, OH - After hosting the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships this year, the Tigers got off to a solid start in the NCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Kenyon.
The Tigers kicked off the championships with a win in the decathlon last weekend at Denison, and Wittenberg maintained its momentum on Friday. In only the second running event of the championships, Kory Davis (Brookville, OH / Brookville) set an NCAC and program record in the 110-meter hurdles prelim with a blistering time of 14.17 seconds. Throughout the day, the Tigers added top finishes, including several times that broke into the top 10 in school history, and after one day of competition, the Tigers are in third place with 30 points. John Carroll is in first place with 47 points and Kenyon trails by 10 with 37 points.
In the field events, Troy Crosby (Clayton, OH / Northmont) took third in the discus and broke into the top 10 in school history with a toss of 44.63 meters, and teammate AJ Sutherly (Marysville, OH / Marysville) added a fifth-place finish as he entered the top 10 as well by just over a meter. Lukas Rieben (Clayton, OH / Northmont) started strong in the running events, taking first place in the 10,000 meters and became another Tiger to enter into the top 10 with a time of 32:14.95. Along with the record-breaking performance by Davis in the 110-meter hurdles prelims, Riley Payne (Hamilton, OH / Trenton Edgewood) crossed the line in third with a time of 14.74 seconds, less than half a second from the previous number one time in Wittenberg history. Next were the 400-meter dash prelims, where Cameron Elliott (Springfield, OH / Springfield) took first with a time of 48.22 seconds and Jack Kittle (Chagrin Falls, OH / Chagrin Falls) was fourth in a time of 48.27 seconds, both under two tenths of a second off the number one time in program history, currently held by Kittle.
In the 100-meter dash prelims, Elijah Simmons (Jacksonville, FL / Groveport Madison (OH)) posted a second-place finish in 10.72 seconds, just over two-tenths of a second behind his own program record set earlier this season. In the prelims for the 800 meters, Zayden Taylor (Springfield, OH / Kenton Ridge) finished in 1:57.39 for fourth place, less than a half of a second from breaking into Wittenberg's top 10. Owen Bier (Elyria, OH / Midview) added another top finish in the prelims with a time of 54.49 seconds in the 400 meter hurdles, and joining him in the top 10, was Davis, who finished second with a time of 55.20 seconds. In the last prelim of the day, Kittle finished first in the 200 meters in a time of 21.31 seconds, just 0.2 seconds from his program record, and Simmons was third in 21.70 seconds, another time good enough to reach the program's top 10.
The Tigers will finish out the meet tomorrow, where the runners who qulaified for the finals in the running event prelims will have opportunities to score points, while more field events will take place before the winners and winning team are crowned at the 2026 NCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.