The Chargers took second place in their first ever G-MAC Indoor Championships. Staying neck and neck with the University of Findlay all weekend, the Charger men were in the lead when it came to the shot put on Saturday afternoon.
“It came right down to the end,” head coach Andrew Towne said. “We were up by two or so with just the shot put left and then the 4×4. We scored like five points in the shot, and Findlay scored 20-something. Then it was over.”
The team put up a strong showing, one which Towne said was something he had been looking for from the guys all year.
“The guys competed much better than they have all year. We came up just short. It came right down to the last couple events. Really close but that’s the type of effort that we need moving forward.”
Findlay ended up taking home the crown Saturday afternoon, edging the Chargers with a score of 154.
“The difference was we’re a little bit stronger in the distance events than they are and they’re a little bit stronger in the field events than we are,” Towne said. “We couldn’t outdo them enough in the distance events to offset how much they outdid us in the field events.”
Though the team didn’t take a collective championship title, quite a few individuals walked out of Biermann having taken the number one slot in the conference. Sophomore Joey Humes won the mile and 3000-meter runs, as well as anchoring the Champion DMR team. Humes was also named the G-MAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week.
“He was a good example of what we need from our guys going out there and giving their best effort whether it feels great or not, whether it’s easy or not,” Towne said. “I thought he was really good this weekend in terms of competing and laying it out there.”
Though he is the only member of the men’s team to qualify for NCAAs, Humes had nothing but praise for his teammates.
“Everyone did so well,” Humes said. “I can’t think of one person who didn’t step up. Literally everybody was stepping up. I think the problem was we didn’t have the depth for it. Findlay’s got depth.”
Other notable performances included senior David Chase, senior Jared Schipper, and freshman Ryan Thomsen in a Charger sweep of the heptathlon podium. Schipper also took the conference title in the pole vault.
“I got first, which was awesome,” Schipper said. “I didn’t jump quite as high as I wanted to, but that’s okay. Pole vault is one of those things where you kind of just compete against yourself and you have your own goals to reach. You don’t worry about the competition too much.”
For everyone but Humes, the indoor season is over. The team will take a few days off and then jump into training for the outdoor season.
“This week we’re taking a couple of days off just to let our bodies recover,” Schipper said. “And then we’ll probably get right into it next week. It’ll just be tons of practice and will probably be the hardest weeks of the semester.”
