Men's Track and Field | 1/26/2020 10:22:00 AM

2020 Spire Midwest Open Results
 
    GENEVA, Ohio – The West Liberty University indoor track team mounted a sustained assault on the WLU record book and their own personal bests at this weekend's Spire Midwest Open, putting a big smile on the face of head coach Justin Simpson.
    "A very successful day for our program," Simpson summed up. "With the (Mountain East) conference championships a month away, this was our biggest meet of the season. We took the wraps off our entire team for the first time and they really responded.
    "Our distance teams were killing it. Phil White missed the summer and fall due to illness but came back to lead the charge with school records in the 3000 and 5000 meters. Our men's and women's distance medley relay teams each shattered school records by significant margins and freshman Hannah Kemp ran a school-record 5:20 mile that puts her No. 2 in the conference."
    White ran a 15:09.2 in the 5K, erasing a school record that had been on the books since 2006. His 8:48.61 clocking in the 3K was more than 10 seconds faster than his own previous school record time from a year ago.
    Kemp, coming off an NCAA Division II All-Region cross country season, knocked nearly 20 seconds off the school's indoor mile record with her 5:20.33 run and anchored the distance medley squad that also erased the previous school mark by just under 20 seconds.
    "We had a lot of PRs today and more records on both sides," Simpson added. "Isaiah Robinson had another big meet. He just missed his own school record in the triple jump but he's still No. 1 in the conference this spring with an NCAA provisional mark. He also ran a leg on the school record distance medley relay and anchored the 4x400 relay that also broke a school record.
    "Kelsi Hulit has been working on a new technique for the shot and seems to be picking it up pretty quickly with a school record throw on Saturday. Christian Oberdick also had a big day, breaking his own school record in the 60 hurdles and running a leg on the 4x4. It was a pretty enjoyable ride back home."
    Robinson was second in the triple jump with a leap of 14.05 meters (46 feet, 1.25 inches). He teamed with Oberdick, Corey Wyttenbach and Adam O'Donnell to take more than three seconds off the school's 5-year-old 4x400 relay record with a time of 3:24.35. Robinson also joined forces with Michael Harriman, Tavian Richardson and Danah Phillips on a distance medley relay quartet that blew away the previous school mark with a 10:20.41 clocking.
    Hulit became the first WLU woman ever to break 40 feet indoor with a heave of 12.29 meters (40 feet, 3.75 inches) while Oberdick lowered his own school record in the 60 hurdles by more than a tenth of a second at 8.52 ticks.
    The next full squad meet for West Liberty's men and women will be Feb. 8 when they head back to Ohio for the Dragon Invitational, hosted by Tiffin University.