LEWISBURG, Pa. – Jordan Birden (Baltimore, Md./Cristo Rey Jesuit) notched a pair of Centennial Conference (CC) qualifiers to lead McDaniel at the Bison Opener hosted by Bucknell in season-opening men's indoor track and field action on Saturday.
Birden finished eighth in the long jump with a leap of 6.27 meters, winning his flight with the sixth-ranked jump in program history. He also cleared 1.81 meters to finish tied for 11th in the high jump to make it 2-for-2 in conference qualifiers in the first meet of the season.
Chris Jones (Centreville, Va./Centreville) added the lone CC-qualifying time on the track, finishing eighth overall in the 800 with a time of 2:02.22. He finished second in his section and was the top Division III finisher.
Loi Nguyen (Crofton, Md./South River) just missed the standard in the 60, finishing 30th overall with a time of 7.68 seconds. The conference-qualifying standard is 7.64 seconds.
Nguyen was also 27th in the 200 with a time of 26.57 seconds.
Alex Panagakos (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) and John Alexander (Lutherville, Md./Calvert Hall) finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in the 500. Panagakos finished with a time of 1:11.33 and debuts at sixth place on the program's all-time list while Alexander's time of 1:11.98 debuts him in eighth place.
Peter Merkel (Ellicott City, Md./Homeschool) recorded the top individual place finish of the day, placing second in the 3,000 with a time of 9:17.34. Jim Heilman (Lutherville, Md./Baltimore Lutheran) finished fifth in the same event with a time of 9:30.67.
Jason Swartz (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern) rounded out the individual finishers for McDaniel, placing 13th in the 300 (41.58 seconds) and 37th in the 60 (7.96).
Jones, Panagakos, Alexander and Merkel combined to place 15th in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:37.94 while Heilman, Nguyen, Swartz and Birden joined to finished 17th in a time of 3:57.31.
The Green Terror returns to action at the Orange and Maroon Classic hosted by Susquehanna on Friday, Jan. 16.
McDaniel Results: 60 Prelims: 30. Loi Nguyen 7.68, 37. Jason Swartz 7.96; 200: 27. Nguyen 26.57; 300: 13. Swartz 41.58; 500: 6. Alex Panagakos 1:11.33, 8. John Alexander 1:11.98; 800: 8. Chris Jones 2:02.22*; 3,000: 2. Peter Merkel 9:17.34, 5. Jim Heilman 9:30.67; 4x400 Relay: 15. Jones, Panagakos, Alexander, Merkel 3:37.94, 17. Heilman, Nguyen, Swartz, Jordan Birden 3:57.31; High Jump: 11T. Birden 1.81m (5-11 ¼)*; Long Jump: 8. Birden 6.25m (20-7)*.
* Centennial Conference qualifying standard
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