The all-senior distance medley relay of Austin Kline, Shawn Young, AJ Morgan, and Chris Berry headlined the event for the Bucks. In Kline's first ever 1200 meters, he split 3:27 to put the Bucks in the front pack. Shawn Young weaved his way through the 25-team field to split a 55-second 400, AJ Morgan's followed with a solid season debut of 2:06 in the 800, and Chris Berry closed out the relay with a 4:40 1600 meter anchor leg. Their victory automatically clinches a spot at the Meet of Champions in February.
Three of West's top freshmen sprinters teamed up with sophomore Ryan Devlin for a strong performance in the freshman-sophomore 4x200 meter relay to start the day. Ryan Devlin (26.8), Devin Bradley (26.4), Ryan McIlhinney (26.2), and Ryan Walsh (25.2) surged up through the field with each pass of the baton to place third overall out of 27 teams.
Junior Riley Owens had a strong early-season debut in the pole vault, placing fourth out of 15 competitors with a 10'6" clearance. Other strong performances in the field included a PR from junior Jordan Gilliland (5' 6") in the high jump to place sixth out of 11 competitors as well as an indoor PR of 42' 3.25" from senior strongman Cory Radkins in the shotput. Radkins also placed sixth, advancing to the finals for the first time in a hypercompetitive indoor meet.
West's 4x200 meter relay also placed 5th for the second week in a row. They are now just a second away from qualifying for the Meet of Champions after just the second week of the season. Sophomores Josh Bazzano (24.8) and Josh Haschets (24.9) teamed up with senior sprinters Ethan Long (24.8) and Greg Branch (24.5) to drop 1.3 seconds from last week, hitting a 1:39.36.
Other bright spots for the Bucks included Jamie Valdez placing sixth out of 22 athletes in the 60 meter dash with a PR of 7.53 seconds. Valdez was just one one-hundredth of a second away from earning his first individual medal in an indoor meet. Also impressive, after wrestling practice and soccer practice, sophomore superstar Jason Douple split a 56-second leg on the Bucks' 10th place 4x400 meter relay. Finally, junior jumper Jonah Malriat placed 10th in the triple jump with a 1/2 inch season best of 36' 11.5".
The Bucks return to action on Saturday at Lehigh at 8:30 am to earn some early Christmas presents.