BALTIMORE, Md. – Freshman Austin Bittenbender garnered a bronze medal with a massive PR in the long jump to headline the Ursinus College men's track and field team's second day at the Centennial Conference Outdoor Championship at Johns Hopkins.

Bittenbender extended his previous collegiate benchmark by nearly two feet with a mark of 21-2.00, elevating all the way from the 15^th seed to earning six of the Bears' seven team points for the day. The rookie fouled twice in a row before uncorking the best leap of his young career. Fellow freshman Matthew Gallagher placed 10^th with a career-best 19-9.75.

Despite ending the day in ninth place, Ursinus will have plenty of chances to pick up big points on Sunday, with several other competitors qualifying for the finals of their respective events. The Bears had two of the top five finishers in the 400-meter hurdles, where junior Mitchell Kelly's personal record 56.66 led the field; classmate Jequan Mitchell was fifth at 58.72 and will also run in tomorrow's final.

Senior Patrick Mekongo was runner-up in the 200-meter dash prelims with a mark of 22.77 and will go for his second gold medal in three years on Sunday.

The Bears' 4x800-meter relay squad of freshman Andre Kelly, sophomore Jonny Cope, freshman Craig Lauer, and freshman James McDaid earned a point with an eighth-place finish (8:35.09).

Andre Kelly (51.98, 10^th) and fellow freshman Codi Yhap (52.58, 11^th) finished just outside of finals qualification in the 400-meter dash.

Freshman Carlo Telesco finished 11^th in the discus (118-6.00), where junior Adam Myers was 20^th (107-6.00).

Junior Jamie Casseus logged an 11^th-place performance in the 100-meter dash (11.82).

McDaid crossed the line in 15^th place in the 800-meter run (2:02.93).

The outdoor championship concludes with a full slate on Sunday, beginning with the javelin and 4x100-meter relay at 11 a.m.