After a hard fought two days of competing, the John Carroll University Men’s Indoor 

Track & Field earned a second-place finish at the 2022 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships. 

The two-day event held on Friday, Feb. 25, and Saturday, Feb. 26, proved to be a battle all weekend long against the hosting school, University of Mount Union. 

At the end of the weekend, John Carroll finished second in team points with 184, only trailing the University of Mount Union with 240 points. 

“I am very proud for what this team has accomplished this indoor season, especially at OACs,” said Jamie Dailey ‘22. “This shows what we are capable of doing when we move into the outdoor season. Maybe we didn’t execute as fully as we hoped, but this was the most exciting and enthusiastic OAC Championship I’ve ever run in. This is definitely one for the books.”

Between Friday and Saturday, five John Carroll runners took home the top honors in various events.

Fourteen individuals claimed All-OAC status for their outstanding performances.

Friday’s meet opened up with Jimmy Kartsonas ‘25 competing in the long jump event. In his first-ever OAC Championship, Kartonas earned All-OAC by finishing with a mark of 6.74, earning him a third-place finish. Corey Minton ‘23 and Willis Goodwin ‘22 locked in spots within the top 10 as they finished in eighth and 10th, respectively. 

In the weight throw event, Zach Szafarski ‘24 finished in the top 10 with a mark of 15.84 meters. 

Caleb Correia ‘24 opened up the day for John Carroll on the running side. In the 500-meter, Correia notched a personal best with a time of 1:05.85, giving him the silver accolade. 

John Carroll’s success continued as Garrett Clark ‘22 finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.40 seconds. Clark’s fellow classmate Mark Zahren ‘22 competed hard in the race, earning him a seventh-place finish via a 51.30 second race. 

On Friday, Alex Phillip ‘23 continued his stellar John Carroll career by breaking yet another record. In the 5000-meter race, Phillip’s 14:22.61 time crushed the OAC record by 24 seconds. 

Aside from Phillip, the 5000-meter was comprised of some of John Carroll’s best runners. Jared Arnold ‘22 (14:58.10) finished third in the race, followed by Barrett Scheatzle ‘25 (15:01.63)  in fourth and graduate student Andrew Miner in sixth place (15:12.17). 

The final event that John Carroll competed in was the distance medley relay. The quartet of Cameron Klauke ‘23, Gabe Ernest ‘22, Cormac Peppard-Kramer ‘25 and John Shoemaker ‘24 claimed a third place and All-OAC finish via a time of 10:30.53. 

On Saturday, John Carroll began their morning competing in the field events for the second straight day. 

The Blue and Gold began their day on a high note in the triple jump as Minton, Kartsonas and Goodwin finished second through fourth on the podium. 

Later in the day, John Carroll turned their focus to the track events as they began with the 4×200 meter relay. The relay comprised of Klauke, Zahren, Victor Ononogbo ‘25 and Mick Doyle ‘23 garnered All-OAC honors with a third-place finish. 

In the one-mile event, John Carroll captured a large chunk of the points with 22. By no surprise, Phillip took first place and broke the OAC record, while Ethan Domitrovich ‘24, Peppard-Kramer and Ian Pierson ‘22 took fourth through sixth place. 

The Blue and Gold continued to grasp a strong finish while posting solid performances in the sprints. 

In the 60 meter hurdles, Zach Gerber took sixth place. In the 60 meter race, Clark continued his successful weekend as he won the 60-meter dash and was the runner up in the 200-meter. 

Towards the end of the day, John Carroll continued their hot streak as Correia captured a first-place finish in the 800-meter race. Ernest and Ecan Piscitani ‘25 finished with notable marks of fourth and seventh place. 

Domitrovich had his most successful race towards the end of the weekend as he won the 1000 meter race with a time of 2:30.26. Ian Pierson ‘22, Pat White ‘22 and John Shoemaker ‘24 finished in fifth through seventh place, respectively. 

During the weekend’s final race, Dailey left an impressive mark in his last OAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. The fifth-year won the 3K, while teammates Phillip, Scheatzle, Arnold and Champa finished in third, fifth, sixth and eighth place. 

“I prepared like I have been this whole season,” noted Dailey. “It was no different. I just went in with a purpose and had some fun. That’s the most important aspect of our sport. Not thinking too much and just having the ability to trust in your training and get after it.” 

On Friday, March 4, and Saturday, March 5, the Blue Streaks will travel to Ada, Ohio, to compete in the Polar Bear Final Qualifier. 

Next weekend will mark John Carroll’s last meet before the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, beginning on Friday, March 11, in Winston Salem, North Carolina. 

John Carroll hopes to make a mark for themselves after the cancellation of last year’s NCAA DIII Championships. 

“We didn’t have an indoor NCAA Championship last year due to COVID-19, so we were coming in very excited for the opportunity to compete against the best in the country,” explained Dailey. “You always want to be at the national meet no matter what. We have the chance to put some major points on the board and show what John Carroll Track & Field is truly made of. We couldn’t be more excited to extend our indoor season and compete for more accomplishments!”