Kenyon men take sixth at Bob Shannon Invite

2/7/2026 7:27:00 PM

GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Kenyon College men's track and field team made the short trip to Denison University on Saturday afternoon for the Bob Shannon Invitational, the team's third to last before the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships.

Kenyon was able to put together several strong races, particularly in the distance events, to total 51 points and take sixth place out of 12 teams.

The Owls best team finish on the track came in the first event of the day, where a team of Jimmy Baker, Noah Bartlett, Henry Horsley and Matthew Yerger won the distance medley race, posting a time of 11:42.69.

Kenyon's best individual event of the day was the 3000 meter race, where the Owls sent five runners to the top ten. The event was won by senior Dylan Sibbitt, who earned 10 points for the team with a 8:56.28 finish. Not far behind was Charlie Menzel, a sophomore whose 9:04.18 time was good enough for second. Noah Berg and Luke Galik took seventh and eighth, respectively, as Berg's 9:18.97 time narrowly bested the 9:19.00 score of Galik. John Coffin's 9:05.90 time rounded out the strong race for Kenyon.

Kudzaishe Mhere added another strong individual finish on the afternoon, taking third place in the 400 meter race, where he made his rounds in 52.30 seconds. Backing up the distance, the mile proved to be a strong outing for Kenyon, where two runners finished inside the top 10. Champ Blose took fourth in the race with a 4:36.25 time, while Dylan Ryznar finished in eighth place with a 4:43.20 mark.

In the sprints, Julius Thompson led the way in the 200, where he posted a 23.79 time, which slotted him in 12th place.

Over in the field events, Kenyon's best finish came from Ezekiel Kiwanuka, who leapt to a 11.58 meter (38-0) score in the triple jump. Bartlett and Kashi Tomic each turned in 9th place finishes in their respective events. Tomic flew to a 6.04 meter (19-9 ¾) mark in the long jump, while Barltett cleared 3.5 meters (11-5 ¾) in the pole vault. Graham Yeager rounded out the Owls' top finishes with a 12.72 meter (41-8 ¾) toss in the weight throw, good enough for 12th place.

For the day, Case Western Reserve University took home the crown, earning 108 points. Host Denison University finished second with 83 points, while Mount Vernon Nazarene University took third with 76.50 points. The College of Wooster (56.50) and Ohio Wesleyan University (56) rounded out the top five.

Sophomore speedster Charlie Blackmer competed in a separate meet this afternoon, running the mile at the Jud Logan Light Giver Invitational hosted by Ashland University in hopes to qualify for the national meet. With a 4:13.95 time today, Blackmer earned eighth place in the race and broke the Kenyon program record for an indoor mile by nearly five seconds, which was set at 4:18.84 by Jim Boston in 2007.

Kenyon will compete in the All-Ohio Championships next Saturday, February 14 from Otterbein University in Westerville.

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