Ohio Wesleyan captured their seventh NCAC Men's Indoor Track and Field championship on Saturday. The win snapped a five-year streak by Allegheny College.

Ohio Wesleyan University snapped Allegheny's five-year stranglehold on the top-spot at the NCAC Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship thanks to five first-place performances and a clean sweep in the three relays.  Ohio Wesleyan finished with 163.5 points while Allegheny trailed with 135 points.  This is the Battling Bishops' seventh NCAC men's indoor track and field championship and their first since 2002.   

Following Ohio Wesleyan and Allegheny in third place was Denison with 73 points. Wabash trailed in fourth with 69 points and Oberlin was fifth at 49.5 points.  Sixth through tenth place went to Wooster (48), Kenyon (25), Wittenberg (25), Earlham (24) and Hiram (12).  

Allegheny's Ryan Place was named the NCAC Distance Runner of the Year for the second time in his career after winning the mile and the 3,000 meters on Saturday.  Combine that with his 5,000 meter victory on Friday, Place equaled his distance race triple-crown that he previously achieved in 2006.

Denison University junior Michael Barnes, the 2006 NCAC indoor champion in the 400 meters, won both the 200 and 400 meter dash's on Saturday and was named the Men's Sprint/Hurdler of the meet.  Barnes won the 400 with a time of 50.24 seconds which was the fastest time in the event at an NCAC Championship since 2003.  He returned in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.65.  Five runners from Ohio Wesleyan, led by Ryan Ellis, trailed Barnes across the finish line.

In the 3,000 meters Place and runner-up Joel Bendtsen of Denison finished 1-2 in the standings.  Place nipped Bendtsen at the finish line with a time of 8:34.04 seconds.   The mile also saw Place set another NCAC record with his time of 4:17.37.

Wabash's Emmanuel Aouad repeated as champion in the men's 55-meter hurdles and the men's long jump.  In the 55 hurdles he turned in an provisional qualifying time of 7.72 seconds to finish in front of Wooster's Bryan Albani who crossed in 7.88 seconds.  In the long jump he bested last year's winning distance by over five inches, posting a jump of 22'4.25" in 2008.  Second-place in the long jump went to Oberlin's Anthony Osei who squeaked by Ohio Wesleyan's Jordon Exeter by just one-quarter of an inch.

The 4x200 meter relay team of  Ellis, Sean Patrick, Exeter, Nathan Osborn brought home the title the second straight year to Ohio Wesleyan.  The foursome crossed the finish in 1:31.33, two seconds in front of Allegheny.  The Bishops also took the top-spot in the distance medley relay as Garret Andre-Johnson, Kody Law, Kyle Herman and Alex Havran combined for a time of 10:32.45.

After his win in the 4x200 relay, Ohio Wesleyan's Patrick took the championship in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.66 seconds.  Chas Moore-Seymore of Allegheny was one-hundredth of a second behind Patrick.

Last year's distance runner of the year, Geoff Lambert of Wabash, repeated as the men's champion in the 800 meters.  He set a new meet record in 2007 but was unable to eclipse his own record as he finished in 1:54.49.

After taking first place in Friday night's triple jump, Ohio Wesleyan's David Burke captured his second championship of the meet by winning the men's high jump.  He cleared 6'3.5" to finish in front of Wooster's John Mathis, who's best height was 6'2.25".  Thanks to his dual championships the sophomore was named the NCAC's Field Athlete of the Year.

Wabash's Robert Smallman turned in an outstanding showing in the men's pole vault with an NCAA provisional qualifying height of 15'11.25".  That was the highest distance cleared at an NCAC Indoor Championship since Allegheny's Jeremy Scott shattered the conference record in 2003 with a hieght of 18'2.75".

The Bishops sent their fans home happy in the final event, the 4x400 meter relay after Preston Osborn, Ellis, Bryce Mathias and Nathan Osborn finished with a time of 3:26.12.  Lambert closed out the final leg of the mile relay with a strong split that edged out third-place Denison by less than three tenths.

The men's coach of the year was Ohio Wesleyan's Kris Boey.