Tigers Find Success at 51st Annual Centre Invitational
Led by junior Tyler Gittins and freshman Tyra Barnes, Wittenberg Men's and Women's Track and Field teams performed well at the Centre Invitational with a number of finishes in top eight positions.
DANVILLE, Ky. – The Tiger track and field teams traveled to Centre College this past weekend to compete in the Centre Invitational. The competition included both challenging conference and regional foes, however Wittenberg came away from the day in eighth of 16 on the women's side and seventh of 17 for the men.
WOMEN'S TOP 8'S
The 4x100 meter relay team consisting of Tiarra Avant, Tyra Barnes, Alaina Longshore, and Samantha Mitchell raced their way to a third place finish with a time of 50.10 seconds.
With a time of 1:00.75, senior Longshore also placed fourth in the 400 meter dash.
Freshman Barnes continued her day with a second place finish in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.94 seconds.
The women wrapped up their day on the track with the 4x400 meter relay team, consisting of Barnes, Alexis Gray, Longshore, and Katelyn McCohn, placing second with a time of 4:02.43.
Junior Anissa Dann starred for the Tigers in the hammer throw, placing fifth for her best distance being 42.66 meters.
Freshman Gabrielle Draginoff finished third in pole vault, reaching a height of 3.10 meters.
MEN'S TOP 8'S
The men's 4x100 meter relay team also scored for the Tigers and placed fourth with a time of 43.51 seconds, the team consisting of Tyler Branton, Matt Entsminger, Brandon Johnson, and Jalen Fultz.
Junior Tyler Gittins ran the 110 meter-hurdles in 15.53 seconds, good for sixth place. Following close behind was teammate Kyle Farnbauch in seventh with a time of 15.87 seconds.
Senior Cody Shutt came away with a 50.44 second and sixth place win in the 400 meter dash.
Freshman Branton also contributed a seventh place finish with a time of 11.28 seconds in the 100 meter dash.
Also seventh in his own event, sophomore Kenny Mayes rounded out the 800 meter run with a time of 1:57.59.
Gittins pulled away with a first place victory in the 400 meter-hurdles with a time 54.19 seconds, ranking him up to seventh in the nation for NCAA Division III. Sophomore Farnbauch once again closely followed, coming in at 57.57 for fifth place.
Wrapping up the running events for the men was the 4x400 meter relay team of Mayes, Ryan Hale, Gittins, and Shutt coming in at 3:30.95 for third place.
In pole vault, freshmen Jardyan Mitchem and Keaton Snow vaulted for third and fifth place to heights 3.95 meters and 3.65 meters respectively.
UP NEXT
Before the upcoming All-Ohio Invitational on Easter weekend, the Tigers will travel back to Muskingum to compete in the Muskie Invitational on Saturday, April 8.
Written by: Sutton Jacobs, '19