Two amazing things happened at the Marv Frye Invitational for the track and field team this Saturday. Well, a few amazing things happened, but two especially amazing things. First off, a school record was broken for the women’s team, and secondly the men scored third place out of 10. Beyond that, nine people finished in the top three places for their individual events.

The record breaker this weekend was Sophia Herzog; the event was the pole vault. Herzog cleared a height of 11 feet and one and three-quarters of an inch, two inches higher than the previous record. This landed her in second place. While she was doing that, three of her teammates—Rachel Tan, Asante Brown and Gavriella Pora—were also placing in the top three. Pora finished third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:02.75, Brown third in the triple jump with a mark of 33’1.25” and Tan also third in the high jump by clearing a height of 4’10.25”. Altogether, the women’s team scored 53 points, placing them seventh out of 10.

As for the men, David Dixon won the 3,000-meter steeplechase, with a time of 9:43.18. The 4×400 relay (Composed of Abdallah Soliman, Jonathan Freeman, Nathan Wahner and Perry Billet) finished with a time of 3:28.64, coming in third place. In the field, Harry Weintraub and David Leishman came in second and third, respectively, in the weight throw: Leishman with a toss of 150 feet and five inches, Weintraub with a toss of 173’8”. Mark Kulinski and Jared Brucker pulled off another second and third combo in the pole vault, tying each other by clearing a height of 14 feet and one-quarter inch. The men’s team scored 83 points, tying them for third with Ohio Northern.

This invitational will be followed by All-Ohio Outdoor Championships, one of the biggest meets of the year. Here, the Spartans will really get a chance to perform and test their mettle.

Edit April 14, 2014 1 p.m: Sophia Herzog’s record-setting pole vault broke the previous record by two inches. The Observer originally reported as a difference of one foot. — Kyle Patterson, Director of Web & Multimedia