By Colin Fields

Writer

After a strong showing last weekend at the Towson Invitational, the men’s track team did not miss a beat at the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va. The Orange and Blue beat 36 other teams to take first place overall at Zable Stadium, the first ever victory at the Colonial Relays for the Bison. Robert Arent ’12 took an individual victory, and Tom Barr ’12 led a stellar group of throwers with a victory of his own.

The Bison won handily with more than a 50-point margin over second-place Temple. Villanova, Virginia Tech and Rutgers rounded out the top five but finished 70 points behind the Orange and Blue. Bison athletes put up points in 15 of the 26 events, showing off the team’s consistency and depth.

Arent earned a victory for the Bison after having the fastest time in both the preliminaries and finals of the 110-meter hurdles. Arent’s time of 14.58 seconds in the finals came just shy of a personal record, but it was good enough for gold on Saturday. Arent helped the Bison to more than 20 of the team’s 130 points over the course of the weekend.

Andrew Powell ’12, who was the heptathalon champion at the Patriot League Indoor Championships, contributed with a second-place finish in the high jump by clearing six feet and six inches.

Joseph improved his hammer throw from a week earlier with a personal best throw of 188-5, giving him second place. His toss was six feet over his previous personal record.

Teammates Barr, Webster and Heitzman all added points in throwing events for the Orange and Blue. Barr finished fourth in the hammer throw and fifth in the discus, Webster finished fourth in the discus, and Heitzman finished second in the javelin for the second consecutive year.

Last week at the Towson Invitational, the Bison throwers won three different events. Ted Heitzman ’12, Leonard Joseph ’13 and Luke Webster ’13 won the javelin, hammer throw and discus, respectively. Barr finished second in three events.

“I came to school significantly improved from when I left last spring, both strength- and technique-wise. Since then it’s just been adjustments from my coach helping me slowly increase distance,” Joseph said.

“I was able to start the season on a positive note simply through focusing this off-season on what my throws were missing. I trained hard with these areas in mind, and I was able to get the season started on the right foot,” Heitzman said.

The Bison look to continue their success at the Bison Outdoor Classic on April 15 and 16.