Two relays qualify for ECAC Championships at Muskingum Invitational

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

NEW CONCORD, Ohio (March 25) - The Bethany College men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Amy Adams Memorial Invitational hosted by Muskingum University Saturday.

The men finished sixth, while the women finished eighth at the event which featured schools from NCAA Divison II and III. Divison II Walsh won the men's title, while Case Western Reserve took home the top team honors on the women's side.

A pair of men's relay teams notched qualifying marks for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Outdoor Championships. The 4x400-meter team of senior Andre Butler (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville), junior Ed Maxwell (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) and sophmores Jelani Williams (Jersey City, N.J./Ferris) and Marshall Murray (Brownsville, Pa./Brownsville) won the event with an ECAC qualifying time of three minutes, 22.46 seconds.

The men's 4x100-meter team also established an ECAC qualifying mark. The team of Butler, senior Jalen Holmes (New Castle, Pa./New Castle), and freshmen Byron Mayers (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and Baboucar Sallah-Mohammed (Arlington, Va./Fishburne Military) crossed the tape in fourth place with a time of 43.15 seconds.

The women's team was led by a trio of top-five finishers. Junior Ashley Borsch (Richmond, Ohio/Edison Local) finished second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.41 seconds. Sophomore Leighanna Frantz (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) claimed fourth place in the high jump, clearing four-feet, 9.75 inches (1.47 meters). Senior Michaela Ross (Wahiawa, Hawaii/Leilehua) established a second-place finish in the 5000-meter run with a time of 21 minutes, 18.59 seconds.

In addition to his performance in the relays, Butler turned in a pair of top-three finishes on his own. He claimed second place in the 200-meter dash at 22.29 seconds and finished third in the 100-meter dash at 11.20 seconds.

Maxwell had a successful run in the 400-meter hurdles. He established a personal record and placed thrid overall at 57.10 seconds.

The Bison men were led in the field by a trio of top-five performances. Sophomore Matt Dunn (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) established a personal record in the javelin with a heave of 153 feet, four inches (46.75 meters) to place third overall.

Sallah-Mohammed and senior Aaron Frye (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) were the top jumpers. The duo tied for fourth in the high jump, clearing six feet (1.83 meters) and finished fifth and sixth overall in the long jump. Sallah-Mohammad was marked at 20 feet, 11.75 inches (6.39 meters), while Frye posted a jump of 20 feet, eight inches (6.30 meters).

The Bison men's and women's teams will move forward in the outdoor season when they host the Bethany Invitational on Saturday, April 1 at Bison Stadium.