TIFFIN, Ohio - With nine months having passed since the last collegiate event hosted in the Heminger Center, Tiffin men's track & field returned to action on Friday, hosting the Tiffin University Challenge.
While there were only four teams competing in the meet, it was a slate of regional and national powerhouses in DII track & field, consisting of Tiffin, Findlay, Ashland, and Hillsdale.
Tiffin earned three individual event wins at the meet, starting with Nikolas Curtiss making a great opening statement in the shot put with a toss of 19.31 meters. The mark is the second-best throw of his Dragon career, trailing his PR of 19.40 meters from last year's Dragon Grand Prix.
Collin Jasin won the pole vault with relative ease, outpacing the field with a clearance of 4.80 meters.
Quincy Scott also earned a first-place finish, winning his signature event of the long jump with a leap of 7.32 meters. Dorian Holida also fared well in the event, placing fourth with a mark of 6.47 meters.
Scott and Holida also looked impressive in the triple jump, finishing third and fourth with jumps of 13.74m and 13.63m, respectively. Joseph Holida added to a good day for the jumps squad, finishing fourth in the high jump with a clearance of 1.93 meters.
Along with Curtiss, the rest of the Dragon throwers had a strong opening meet, as Jabari Bennett finished right behind him in the shot put with a heave of 18.68 meters and Benedict Draghi placed fourth with a toss of 16.50 meters.
In the weight throw, four men made the top 10, with Jacob McPherson in fourth (18.20m), Draghi sixth (17.40m), John Casper seventh (17.06m), and Matt Ryser eighth (16.32m).
In the second session filled with track events, Nathaniel Wilson put forth a great performance in the 60m Hurdles (8.15 seconds), finishing second only to two-time National Champion Trevor Bassitt of Ashland. In the 200, Alyjah Mouton impressed in his Dragon debut, placing third with a mark of 23.77 seconds.
The Dragons also went 1-2-3 in the 3000, as Nathaniel Ondracek took second in 9:01.99, Jaylen Lasseter finished third in 9:04.15, and Jaden Wimbush placed fourth in 9:14.84.