WINCHESTER, Va. – Following a week of training in Orlando, Florida, the Franklin & Marshall men's track & field team began its journey back to Pennsylvania with a stop in Virginia to compete at Shenandoah's Kaye & JJ Smith Invitational. The Diplomats won an event and saw three more top 10 performances in school history during the first meet of the second semester.
Kenny Uchida was F&M's individual champion as he won the long jump with a mark of 6.54 meters. That mark is currently the best in the Centennial Conference this season and tied for the third-best jump in program history. Also in the jumps, Greg Bruno cleared 3.60 meters to place eighth in the pole vault with the 10th-best mark in program history.
The other top 10 performance came in the throwing events where Ben Ostroski took third in the weight throw with a mark of 15.09 meters to rank third in school history. Benjamin Ford (14.22m) and Dustin Stoetzel (12.40m) also turned in top 10 finishes at the meet. Austin Hadley led the shot put efforts with his runner-up mark being measured at 13.56 meters (currently the top mark in the Centennial Conference this season). James Martin (11.66m) was eighth in this event, while Ford (11.32m) added another top 10 finish to his day.
The Diplomats' best event on the track came in the middle distance races as F&M had six of the top 10 finishers in the 400 meters. Justin Harrison (54.35 seconds) led those efforts, with Zach Houff (54.40), Brian Mix (55.15), and Wesley Ihezuo (55.73) following him in the final standings. Harrison was also the team's top performer in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.48 seconds. Gorman led the team in the 800 meters (2:13.55), with Mix (2:16.13) and Tommy Tapino (2:18.54) also finishing in the top 10.
Houff added his second top 10 finish of the day with a runner-up performance in the mile (4:33.26) while Tapino took sixth in his mile run, crossing the line in a time of 4:47.91. In addition to winning the long jump, Uchida was the team's top performer in the 200 meter dash (24.37). Addison Neuen led the team to the finish line in the 3,000 meters (9:51.28).
Franklin & Marshall returns to action this coming weekend when the team competes at Catholic's Cardinal Classic on Saturday, January 17.
Franklin & Marshall Event Winners / Top 10 Performances
Pole Vault
8. Greg Bruno (3.60m) – tied for 10th in school history
Long Jump
1. Kenny Uchida (6.56m) – third in school history
Weight Throw
3. Ben Ostroski (15.09m) – third in school history
