Rader wins RSC Indoor T&F Championship in men's long jump; Bears sit second in team standings following first day
MARIETTA, Ohio -- The efforts of Luke Rader continue to shine in a bright manner -- as evidenced by the sophomore's performance Friday evening in the men's long jump, where the sophomore blitzed the 17-individual River States Conference long jump field by posting a new personal best, school record and conference championship-winning jump of 23 feet, four-and-a-quarter inches to lead the Shawnee State men's indoor track and field efforts on the opening day of competition at the River States Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, which are being held at the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center in Marietta, Ohio.
Rader, whose previous personal best was a 23-foot, two-and-three-quarters inch long jump, bettered his own mark Friday by an inch and a half.
Having already cleared the field on each of his successful flight attempts, including jumps of 22 feet, one-half inch, 22 feet, six inches, 22 feet, seven-and-a-quarter inches and 23 feet, two-and-a-quarter inches, Rader kept raising the bar, literally and figuratively, as the sophomore's 23-foot, four-and-a-quarter-inch long jump on his sixth and final flight attempt was his best -- continuing a pattern where the sophomore raised the bar at every stop.
"Luke Rader has jumped in and dominated for us this season," Shawnee State Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Conner Flynn said. "He is a great athlete and works very hard. It was great to see him rewarded with a conference championship in his first event of the weekend."
Following Rader, Matthew Rauch and Landon Roberts combined to score 10 additional points in the pole vault, with Rauch clearing 12 feet, seven-and-a-half inches on his vault and Roberts posting the highest pole vault mark of any freshman at the RSC Championships with his 11-foot, 11-and-three-quarters inch vault.
In the men's 5,000 meter run, Isaiah Lanoy and Kaiden Lanoy combined for 11 points -- posting times of 14:55.57 and 15:13.21 in the 5,000, respectively -- while Alan Austin nabbed a new personal best in the shot put, throwing a 50-foot, four-and-three-quarters inch mark to finish fifth in the conference rundown in the shot put.
Behind the above performances, Trevor Lanoy's 1:25.12 in the 600 meter run put the sophomore fifth in the final rundown in that event, while the 4,000 meter distance medley relay unit of Trevor Lanoy, Aidan Judd, Jerry O'Dell and Caden LaRue also finished fifth, posting an 11:06.10 in that event. Shawnee State's final three points on Day 1 came in the 4-by-800 meter relay, where Judd, O'Dell, Luke Butler and Jacob Naumovski finished sixth, posting an 8:49.94.
The rest of Shawnee State's RSC Championship performances are as follows:
Long jump: Connor Ignacio, 10th, 19 feet, four-and-a-quarter inches
600 meter run: Cody Hesler, 10th, 1:27.12; Caden LaRue, 14th, 1:29.27
5,000 meter run: Dylan French, 10th, 15:41.26; Garrett Carver, 12th, 16:04.00 (PB)
55 meter hurdles (prelims): Luke Rader, second, 8.07; Matthew Rauch, fifth, 8.21 (both advanced to Saturday's finals)
55 meter dash (prelims): Garrett McKinniss, eighth, 6.69; Bailey White, 12th, 6.81; Davin Heckard, 17th, 6.87 (McKinniss advanced to Saturday's finals)
200 meter dash (prelims): Cody Hesler, 10th, 23.74; Garrett McKinniss, 17th, 24.07; Braxton Noble, 18th, 24.29; Cameron Cannon, 21st, 25.03
Additional
The men's indoor track and field program at Shawnee State will be back in action tomorrow morning and afternoon for what will be the second and final day of the River States Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.
