YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – It's been quite a stretch for the Geneva College men's track and field team, and the Golden Tornadoes added to their recent championship collection with another one on Thursday night at the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Indoor Championship.  Geneva won its third straight indoor championship, and along with the three straight outdoor championships, the Golden Tornadoes have won six straight track and field titles, and Thursday night was another convincing win for Geneva, who finished with 125 points.  Grove City finished in second place with 84.5 points.

This season marked a test for the Golden Tornadoes.  Gone from the program was last year's senior class who was the core of Geneva's previous five championships.  If there was any doubt whether Geneva could sustain its success without that senior class, the Golden Tornadoes answered that with a resounding message to the rest of the league that they are still a force to be reckoned with.

Freshman Manny Mitchell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) got Geneva off to a great start when the freshman won the high jump with a height of 1.93m, the best jump of his college career.  The points continued to come after that.

Highlighting the day for Geneva was the performance of junior Dom Data (New Castle, Pa./Shenango), who after the meet was named the PAC Men's Most Outstanding Performer.  Data broke both the PAC and the school record in the 200m with a time of 21.85 seconds.  He also finished second in the 400m with a time of 50.84 seconds and fourth in the 60m with a time of 7.11 seconds.  He also ran the anchor leg on the 4x400m relay team, along with juniors Ryan Kennell (Hartville, Ohio/Lake) and Stephen Nelson (Orono, Maine/Orono) and freshman Nick Bailey (Chippewa Lake, Ohio/Cloverleaf), that finished first with a time of 3:26.73.  Data also finished tenth in the long jump with a distance of 6.29m.

Besides, Data, Geneva found significant success in the sprints.  In the 400m, Bailey finished third in 51.14 seconds, senior Devaughn Johns (Mt. Pleasant Mills, Pa./Midd-West) finished fourth in 51.19 seconds, and Kennell came in seventh in 51.93 seconds.  Johns also finished seventh in the 200m with a time of 23.10 seconds, while Kennell also finished fourth in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.03 seconds, and Nelson finished sixth in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.21 seconds.

In addition, junior Caleb Schaelchlin (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) came in second in the 800m with a time of 1:57.13.  In the mile, senior Micah Daigneault (Smithsburg, Md./Smithsburg) finished third with time of 4:28.95, while Schaelchlin was right behind in fifth place in 4:32.45.  Both Daigneault and Schaelchlin ran on the Distance Medley Relay team, along with Johns and junior Josiah Mansell (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) that finished in third place with a time of 11:08.75.

In addition to Mitchell in the jumps, freshman David McDonald (Hopewell, Pa./Hopewell) had a strong day.  McDonald finished fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 13.02m, and he also finished fifth in the long jump with a jump of 6.40m.  Just behind him in the long jump was senior Nick Monteleone (East Palestine, Ohio/East Palestine), who finished in seventh place with a distance of 6.39m.  Senior Raymond Hagg (West Sunbury, Pa./Moniteau) came in sixth in the pole vault with a height of 3.86m.

In the throws, sophomore Giovanni Segura (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood-Clarion) placed third in the shot put with a distance of 13.63m, and he placed fourth in the weight throw with an effort of 12.97m.  Junior Josh Barrett (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) also finished fifth in the shot put with a throw of 13.09m.

Mansell led the way in the distance races, finishing fourth in the 5000m with a time of 16:36.59 and eighth in the 3000m in 9:26.74.

"These men always come out and compete, but these guys are just a different beast on PAC Championship day," said Head Coach Phil Thompson, who was named the Men's PAC Indoor Coach of the Year after the meet.  "Manny got us started in the high jump, and then Dom was just insane.  I don't know how that guy has the energy to do what he does, and to do it at a high level, and his performance in the 200m was just ridiculous.  But it wasn't just Dom, as we had great performances all over, from the throws, to the jumps, to the distance.  In some ways this championship is as sweet as any of the others because I think a lot of people doubted us and assumed with the guys we lost last year that we would fall back down into the middle of the conference.  This is just so special because of that, and this is a special group."

The men will begin the outdoor season with a meet at Coastal Carolina over Spring Break on Friday, March 13.
Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "2019 Best College Values" list and has one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.