Jackson leads Dragons in Alumni Open track meet

Eric Jackson had a national best throw of 59-2.25 to win the shot put at the Tiffin Alumni Open.
Eric Jackson had a national best throw of 59-2.25 to win the shot put at the Tiffin Alumni Open.

Tiffin University had five provisional marks along with a NCAA national best throw by Eric Jackson, as the men's track team opened its season at the Tiffin Alumni Open.

The Dragons had 8 first place finishes, including a memorable put by Jackson, who hit an automatic NCAA qualifying mark with a big throw of 18.04 meters (59-2.25). He beat Tiffin's Kyle Stump by a wide margin, as Stump finished with 16.40 meters.

Other provisional marks were hit by Kevin Roberts in two events, as he won the long jump with 23-4.5 and the triple jump with 48-5.25. Cameron Burrows was second in the high jump with a provisional mark of 6-10.25, while Errik Snell won the 60 hurdles with a provisional mark of 8.11.

Other Dragons winning events were Stephen Korir in the mile in 4:32.79, Chance Abbitt in the 500 in 1:06.89, Ethan Brakefield in the 600 in 1:29.71, and Dylan Cornwell in the pole vault with 15-11.75. Cornwell's mark tied him with Dragons assistant coach and alum Keith Reiter, who competed as an unattached entrant.

Finishing second at the Open was Drew Hickman in the 500 in 1:06.92, Duane Boyd in the 200 in 22.64, and Robert Taylor in the triple jump with 12.77 meters. 

Isaac Boateng (mile), Kerwin Jackson (600), Jonte Baker (200), Chase Brentlinger (3000), Adrian Givens (long jump), Tyler Stuber (triple jump), and Toryko Grace (weight throw) all placed third.

In other men's track and field results, James Ngandu finished 1st at the Grand Valley State Early Bird Invite on Dec. 1 with a time of 13:57.54. That time hit another NCAA automatic qualifying mark for Ngandu.