RedStorm men open season with new records, national qualifiers

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Three national championship qualifiers and a new school record were the products of the opening week of the 2024-25 indoor season for the University of Rio Grande men's track and field team.
     The RedStorm got their season underway on Friday afternoon, sending athletes to three different sites across the Midwest.
     At Indiana Tech University's Warrior Indoor Invitational in Fort Wayne, Ind., sophomore Zack Whitley (Wheelersburg, OH) hit the "A" qualifying standard for the NAIA National Championships by finishing third in the 3,000-meter race walk with a time of 13:57.
     Junior teammate Muguisha Pomossene (Dayton, OH) took fifth place in the same event, crossing in 16:35 in his first-ever go at the event.
     Junior Tyler Jenkins (Barnesville, OH) hit the national "B" qualifying standard in his heat of the 5,000-meter run at the GVSU Holiday Open hosted by Grand Valley State University at the Laker Turf Building in Allendale, Mich.
     Jenkins posted a time of 14:33.
     Also at Grand Valley, sophomore Ashton Beverly (Chillicothe, OH) finished 12th in the 800-meter run but established a new school record time after crossing in 1:55.79.
     Graduate senior Kyle Lightner (Peebles, OH) also had a 12th-place outing in the mile run with a mark of 4:18.55, but his time was the fastest for the program in the event dating back at least 20 years.
     Rio also had a handful of notable marks at Youngstown State's Indoor Track and Field Icebreaker at the Watson and Tressel Training Site in Youngstown, Ohio.
     Sophomore Rowen Gerlach (New Haven, WV) hit the national "B" standard by finishing third in the Elite Shot Put division with a heave of 52'4.5". He also placed fifth in the weight throw with a toss of 44'0".
     Other top finishes for the RedStorm came from senior Triston Malmstrom (McArthur, OH), who was second in the weight throw with an effort of 45'10"; junior Travon Houston (Cleveland, OH), who missed the school record in the 400-meter run by two-tenths of a second after finishing sixth in 49.48; junior Spencer Harris (Gallipolis, OH), who was sixth in the high jump with a mark of 6'3.25"; senior Marshall Jackson (Zanesfield, OH), who was seventh in the Elite Weight Throw division with an effort of 46'6"; senior Ryan Weber (Bidwell, OH), who was eighth in the Elite Weight Throw bracket with a heave covering 46'1.25"; freshman Logen Justice (Lancaster, OH), who was ninth in the high jump at 6'1.25"; sophomore Nick Knight (Proctorville, OH), who placed 10th in the Shot Put at 43'1"; and junior Daunevyn Woodson (Gallipolis, OH), who was 11th in the both the 200-meter dash (22.37) and the long jump (21'8.25").
     Rio's 4x400 relay team - comprised of Houston, freshman Dalton Ferguson (Huntington, WV), freshman Nehemiah Gray (Cincinnati, OH) and graduate senior Chase McClay (McDermott, OH) - finished seventh in 3:28.43.
     Two other RedStorm athletes who were competing Unattached had outings which would've produced new school records had they been part of Rio's roster for the meet.
     Sophomore Troy Mason (Grenville, Grenada) finished his 60-meter dash preliminary in a time of 6.80, which was better than Josh Perry's current record mark of 6.87.
     Mason's winning time of 47.57 was almost two seconds under the school record in the 400-meter run.
     Freshman Keegan McKinney's (Baltimore, OH) mark of 16.43m in the shot put also would've broken the current school record of 16.02m by Chris Starner.
     "We had a really good day," said Rio Grande head coach Matt Paxton. "Between the men and the women, we had three school records, two national 'A' standards and two national 'B" standards. We had no qualifiers at this point last year. It's unusual to set records in your first meet of the year."
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Marshall University Classic in Huntington, W.Va.