ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team opened up their season at the Rochester Institute of Technology Tiger Invitational Saturday afternoon. The Lions finished in fourth out of 11 teams, tallying a score of 71.5 in 18 scored events.
Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion), Dylan Buffington (Brookville, PA/Brookville) and Matt McWilliams all qualified for ECACs at the invitational. Obenrader broke an indoor school record and finished second in the shot put, throwing a distance of 16.23m (53'2.5"). McWilliams took second in the mile with a time of 4:21.28, and Buffington finished third in the 1000m run with a time of 2:34.33.
Senior Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) finished third in the high jump, leaping a distance of 1.88m, while Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) raked in a fifth place finish in the mile with a time of 4:30.90.
Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy-Strong Vincent) took sixth in the 500m with a time of 68.48. Colby Tarr (Uniontown, PA/Laurel Highlands) also took home a sixth place finish in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.15.
Behrend had multiple seventh-place finishers Saturday. Cody Cornell (Conneaut Lake, PA/Conneaut Lake) finished slightly behind McWilliams in the mile, posting a 4:41.43. Freshman Oluwaseun Babalola (Westburg, NY/St. Anthony's) took seventh in the 60m dash with a time of 7.39 and also finished 12th in the 200m dash with a time of 24.08. Shane MacMahon (Mohnton, PA/Governor Mifflin) took seventh in the 800m with a time of 2:02.06.
The Lions also place in two relay events. In the 4x200m relay, Behrend's A relay placed seventh with a time of 1:35.99, while their B relay finished two seconds behind them in fourth with a time of 1:37.88.
In the 4x400m relay, three relay teams placed in fifth, sixth and seventh. The B relay finished first with a time of 3:34.83, the C relay took sixth behind the B squad with a time of 3:40.36 and the A relay finished seventh, posting a time of 3:40.90.
The Lions return to action next Saturday at the Spire North Invitational in Geneva, Ohio. The event will start at 10 a.m.
