The Waynesburg University men’s track & field team went to Youngstown, Ohio, Feb. 22 and took fifth place overall in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Senior Mitch Kendra led the way for the Yellow Jackets taking first place in the pole vault with a height of 4.30 meters.

“I didn’t really jump that well, which is disappointing to me because I was hoping to jump a little bit higher,” said Kendra. “But I was able to finish in first which is exciting. This is the first time I finished in first since 2015, my freshman year for outdoor.”

Last year the team finished in eighth place, making fifth place an improvement from last year, but still not enough to others.

“The team performed really well,” said senior Matthew Shinkle. “We went into the season itself, some of the upper classmen, wanting to get fifth place. That’s around where we wanted to get. We were seeded pretty low going into the season, but we know the talent that we have we have a lot of people on the team that have school records and have been improving on their personal record throughout the year.”

For Kendra, he holds the same sentiment as Shinkle.

“It is definitely not where we want to be,” said Kendra. “Especially for us seniors, we have had the chance to finish higher [than fifth place]. So, it’s definitely not where we want to be, but there are only four seniors right now. So, as much as it stinks to finish [in fifth place] in our last PAC championship for the four of us, there is a lot of underclassmen who are extremely talented.”

For Shinkle, he finished in third place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.82 seconds. It was his first time getting a medal at PAC’s in his entire career.

“I am primarily a hurdler for track,” said Shinkle. “So, I went into the meet putting most of my focus [towards that]. I qualified for finals, and then I ended up getting third. So, that was my first medal in track in my four years.”

Since both Kendra and Shinkle are seniors on the team, the event was their final indoor PAC championship to compete in and they are thankful for the opportunity they had to be a part of the team.

“It has definitely been exciting,” said Kendra. “It’s been up and down, but that’s the nature of the sport. Especially, sometimes it can be the most exciting things and sometimes you get stuck in a rut. The people I have met here are awesome and the coaches that I have meet were awesome. It has been a great time, I would definitely do it again if I had the opportunity to.”

Reflecting back on the past four years, Shinkle said the coaches have pushed him to grow in numerous areas.

“I know that sound probably sounds cliché, but I really had a great time being a part of the Waynesburg University track & field team,” Shinkle said. “The coaches have been spectacular building me up there were times early on in my career with Waynesburg where I didn’t agree with the training methods or how they would want to do this kind of workout, but I was fortunate enough to have them work with me.”

The team is 90 percent underclassmen, according to Shinkle, so the team has the ability to grow in future seasons.

“I think that the team is in good hands,” said Shinkle. “I imagine that it is always a struggle when your seniors who look at the team you are leaving behind to hope that they can continue to build. We went out this season hoping for fifth, so that it would be a benchmark for the team to go ahead and move forward past that. So, I am expecting them to do better than fifth place in indoor next season.”