WQIO Ohio's Super Station
GRANVILLE, Ohio — The Kenyon College men’s indoor track and field team racked up 31 points and placed sixth Saturday at Denison University’s annual Bob Shannon Invitational. Included in Owls’ results was a record-setting run in the 4×400-meter relay.
That relay, the last event of the day, saw the Kenyon team of Emmanuel Makelele, Tapiwa Gono Phiri, Julius Thompson and Collin Witt clock in at 3:31.43. That earned the Owls a second-place finish while wiping out the previous Kenyon record of 3:31.67. That mark was set back on March 2, 1991 by a team that included John Hanichek, Charles Huh, Mike Marshall and James Fleming.
Kenyon had another runner-up relay finish earlier in the day, as the Owls distance medley foursome took the runner-up spot with a time of 11:00.67. That Kenyon quartet included Peter Bernhardt, Jimmy Baker, Robert Enslein and Keegan Minahan.
In individual events, Gono Phiri turned in the Owls’ best placement. He ran the 60-meter dash in 7.06 seconds, claimed third place and tacked on six points to the Kenyon team total.
In addition to his relay work, Witt added a sixth-place run in the 400-meter race, crossing the line in 52.99. In the 3,000-meter run, Noah Hopkins placed seventh, gaining two more points for the Owls. He clocked in at 10:28.82.
In field events, Ezekiel Kiwanuka and Max Pollio were Kenyon’s two point-scorers. Kiwanuka took sixth in the long jump with a leap that measured 19-8 ¾ (6.01 meters). Pollio was eighth in the weight throw. His best toss traveled 39-4 (11.99 meters).
In the final team standings, host Denison held on to the Invitational trophy by racking up 181.5 points. The College of Wooster was second with 106.5 points and California University of Pennsylvania was third, scoring 102 points.
Next week the Owls will send qualifiers to the annual All-Ohio Championship, which will be held Saturday at Wittenberg University.
