It may have been a cold and wet day at the HCAC Track and Field Championships Saturday, but the track events were definitely scorchers for the Bluffton men.
Leading the way was sprinter Ryan Nusbaum, who nearly pulled a sweep of the short sprints. Nusbaum, a sophomore, showed his return to full strength beginning with the 400 meter relay, where he led off a team with Troy Baumer, Adam Super, and Jason Lehman. That team finished second in the race with a time of 43.91, the best in recent years for the Beavers. Nusbaum then turned his attention to the 100 meters, where he nipped Anderson's Mike Harris and Hanover's Ryan Gordon at the finish with a time of 11.48. Finally, Nusbaum ran a season-best time of 22.97 in the 200 meters to finish a close second in that race.
Lehman also turned in a solid day of performances, beginning early in the day with the long jump. Lehman jumped a season-best of 19-6.5 to take fourth in the event, despite not even attempting his final three jumps due to a sore hamstring. He would battle the ailment throughout the meet. He anchored the 400 meter relay, then ran a season-best time of 16.10 in the 110 meter hurdles to place sixth, and finally turned in a quick leg on the 1600 meter relay team which ran a season-best of 3:27.22 while finishing second. Also on the that team was Chris Mackey, Super, and Baumer.
Mackey placed in two open events on the track as well, running a personal-best of 50.84 in the 400 meters, and 58.95 in the 400 meter hurdles, to place third and sixth in those events, respectively. Baumer also placed fifth in the 400 meters, with a time of 52.30, while Super placed fifth in the 100 meters, at 11.64. Steve Borga also placed sixth for the Beavers in the 10,000 meters, with a time of 35:51.93.
Leading the way for Bluffton in the field events was sophomore Clint Dillon, who sailed over 13 feet, 6 inches to win the pole vault competition. Dillon narrowly missed on a nationals provisional qualifying height of 15 feet, 3 inches after winning the meet. Dillon also claimed a spot in the long jump for Bluffton, taking sixth in that event. Also helping to propel the Beavers in the pole vault was Randy Hart, who cleared thirteen feet for the first time this season.
Rick Orr also placed in the shotput for the Beavers, taking third in that event, with a throw of nearly 47 feet.
Bluffton's men finished fourth overall with 76 points, just one point behind third-place Manchester.
