LANCASTER, Pa. – After one of the best performances at the Centennial Conference outdoor championship in years, nine members of the Ursinus College men's track and field team had All-CC honors bestowed upon them.
Freshman Tyler Reilly led the way with four all-league laurels, grabbing first team recognition for gold medals in the 400-meter dash and 4x400-meter relay and taking second team certificates for silver medals in the 200-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay. Freshman Bradley Duncan-Taylor and juniors Austin Bittenbender and Andre Kelly joined Reilly on the first-place 4x400 relay, while sophomore Mike Felix (javelin) and freshman Nick Galbraith (hammer) also represented the Bears on the first team.
Freshman Octavious Carter teamed with Reilly, Bittenbender, and freshman Tyree Williams-Jackson to take second team honors with a silver medal in the 4x100-meter relay.
Carter received honorable mention for winning bronze in the 100-meter dash, while Bittenbender (javelin) and sophomore Griffin McMann (shot put) also earned honorable mention for their own third-place performances.
Although Johns Hopkins' Justin Canedy took home rookie performer of the year and field performer of the year, Reilly almost certainly came in second in the voting for top first-year honors after a sensational effort at Muhlenberg. The freshman edged Hopkins' Nathaniel Amoah to take gold by .04 seconds in the 400 (49.94), and he was second only to the Blue Jays' Alexander Mollick in the 200 (22.37). Reilly, Duncan-Taylor, Bittenbender, and Kelly won the 4x400 by almost a second over runner-up Gettysburg.
Felix dominated the javelin, putting up a top mark of 192-11 to surpass the second-place finisher by more than 17 feet. Galbraith, the champion of the inaugural indoor weight throw, did the double with a huge toss of 132-8 to eclipse his closest competition by more than six feet.
Carter, Reilly, Williams-Jackson, and Bittenbender were about a half-second behind Hopkins in the 4x100 relay (42.97). Carter was third in the 100 with a mark of 11.10.
Bittenbender gave the Bears a pair of medalists in the javelin with a personal-best 174-11 and was also named to the All-Sportsmanship Team, while McMann took bronze in the shot put (47-00.25) to go with a fourth-place finish in the discus.
The nine All-CC honorees are the most since 2013 for the Bears, who matched their best showing at the outdoor championship since 2006 by placing third.