ALLIANCE, Ohio -- Three members of Kenyon College's men's indoor track and field team took part in Saturday's Mount Union Final Qualifier, an event filled with student-athletes looking to improve their season-best marks in hopes of qualifying for the upcoming 2024 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. 

Riley Orth had the best showing out of the three Owls competitors. The senior improved his national standing in the shot put after registering a toss that measured 16.18 meters (53-1). Orth's throw broke his own program record of 16.10 meters (52-10), which he set last weekend when he won the title in the event at the North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. The new distance ranked third in the field at the meet and is currently the 29th-furthest toss at the DIII level this season.

Kenyon juniors Peter Bernhardt and Tapiwa Gono Phiri also participated in the Final Qualifier, with both Owls lining up on the track. Bernhardt competed in the mile and placed sixth with a time of 4:28.14, while Gono Phiri finished seventh in the 60-meter dash at 7.06. Neither time fell under their season-best times, each ranking outside the top 50 DIII times in the respective events this season.

The top 20 declared student-athletes in each individual men's event will be accepted into the NCAC Championships, which take place in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on March 8-9. Selections will be released tomorrow, March 3.

Barring a climb up the standings for Orth, the Owls' next outing will open the team's outdoor season when Kenyon participated in the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational from March 15-16 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.