ADA — The Otterbein men's indoor track and field team successfully defended the Oar at the OAC Championships on Friday and Saturday, securing top finishes in multiple events. Sophomores Richmond Honkpo, Joe Hill, Cam Smart and Christian Barker all earned All-OAC recognition for their standout performances. Honkpo led the way with a pair of All-OAC honors, winning the triple jump title and placing third in the long jump, and Hill was the conference champ in pole vault.

The Basics

• Venue: ONU Sports Center - Ada, Ohio.
• Otterbein finished fifth of 10 teams with a total of 69.5 points. Mount Union won the OAC title with 178 points. Baldwin Wallace was second with 132 points, and Ohio Northern was third with 124.5 points.
• The top three finishers in each event earned All-OAC honors. 
• This meet also served as the Battle for the Oar between Otterbein and Capital. The Cardinals held the Oar entering the competition and retained it, as Capital finisihed ninth with 20 points.
• Online Results
• Results PDF

Otterbein's Top Performers - Running Events

• 60m Hurdles - Smart clocked in at 8.67 seconds, securing third place and earning All-OAC honors. 
• 200m - Barker earned All-OAC recognition, finishing third with a personal-best time of 22.22 seconds.
• 5000m - Junior Payne Ratliff crossed the line in 15:22.08, placing fifth.  
• 800m - Junior Gavin Kelly took fifth, completing the race in 1:58.87. 
• 4x400m Relay - Freshman Marquez Whitehead, Jack Van Fossen, Barker and Smart finished in fifth for a time of 3:29.73. 
• 1000m - Junior Jonny Powers secured sixth place with a time of 2:33.44.
• 4000m Distance Medley Relay - Senior Dylan Burns, Smart, Kelly and Powers posted a 10:41.17 finish, earning sixth place. 
• 4x200m Relay - Freshman Joab Bockstoce, Van Fossen, Whitehead and Barker combined for a time of 1:33.71, finishing sixth.
• 60m Dash Prelims - Barker narrowly missed qualifying but still set a personal-best, running 7.04 seconds to place ninth.

Otterbein's Top Performers - Field Events 

• Triple Jump - Honkpo soared to a personal-best mark of 14.14m, claiming first place and earning All-OAC honors. Sophomore Malvin Long also hit a personal best, jumping 13.40m to take sixth.
• Pole Vault - Hill cleared 4.68m to set a new personal best and earn first place, securing All-OAC recognition. Junior Brady Williams reached 4.13m, tying for seventh.
• Long Jump - Honkpo matched his personal best from last year with a 7.18m jump, taking third place and earning All-OAC honors.
• High Jump - Bockstoce reached a height of 1.93m, securing fifth place.

Quotes 

• Sophomore Joe Hill: "Winning today at the OAC Championships means a lot to me, and I'm proud I get to bring home the gold for my team. I've battled through injuries and tough practices, and it feels great to see it all pay off, not only for me but for the rest of the team as well. This team is like a family to us all, and without the support and hard work from all my teammates and support from the coaches, I wouldn't have been able to pull this off today, so this is not just for me but for all of them as well."
• Sophomore Richmond Honkpo: "Coming into this meet, I didn't know what to expect. I just knew I would leave it all on the track. I did this for all of my teammates who are injured right now. Being in the OAC, I've faced some of the best competition of my life, but it's really my teammates who pushed me and rooted for me the whole way. I've been battling through a tough hamstring injury but I just wanted to give everyone the same energy and hope that they gave me. God really helped me out through this process, and I just had to trust and know His timing is perfect. I'm looking to carry this momentum as a spark not only for a nationals run but also for outdoor season for the whole team to get back on top of the OAC where I believe we can be. The culture at Otterbein is what carries our team to greatness."

Notables

All-Time Otterbein Rankings:

• Honkpo now claims first in the triple jump (14.14m, 2025), beating out the previous record of 14.11m set in 1999 by Chris Stevenson and ranks second in long jump (7.18m, 2025), while freshman Jaret Harting is sixth (7.08m, 2025).
• Barker now ranks second all-time in the 200m (22.22 seconds, 2025) and second all-time in the 60m (7.10 seconds, 2025).
• Sophomore Izaac Swope ranks fourth all-time in the 60m hurdles (8.26 seconds, 2025).
• Hill now ranks fourth in pole vault (4.68m, 2025), while graduate student Nick Agerter is seventh (4.59m, 2024) and Williams is just behind in eighth (4.56m, 2024).
• Junior Khalil Jones ranks eighth in the 60m (7.15 seconds, 2024), seventh in triple jump (13.42m, 2024) and tied for fourth in long jump (7.12m, 2025).
• Ratliff holds two top-10 all-time marks, ranking eighth in the 5000m (14:57.02) and 10th in the 3000m (8:38.10) this season.
• Graduate Brock Pemberton ranks ninth in the weight throw (12.63m, 2025).
• Powers is ninth in the 1000m (2:32.57).
• Whitehead sits in 10th for the 500m (1:07.07).
• Bockstoce is tied for 10th in high jump (1.95m, 2025).