GOSHEN, Ind. - It was a good day for the Trine University track and field teams as they took home eight first place finishes at the Goshen Invitational on Saturday, March 31. The Thunder’s men’s team finished in second with 167.5 points while the women finished in third with 98 points.
Bethel (IN) won the men’s team competition with 251 points, while the Thunder finished 71.5 points ahead of host Goshen, who finished third.
Trine picked up three wins in the track events, including a win by freshman Tyler Bourdo (Plainwell, Mich./Delton Kellogg) in the 400m with a time of 49.82, which was just a second off the school record. Junior Matt Burgess (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) also picked up a win for the Thunder in the 5,000m run with a time of 15:33.13. Trine’s other win came in the 4x400m relay as the team of juniors Dan Linder (DeWitt, Mich./Grand Ledge) and Nate Konzen (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Christian) along with freshman Randy Shaffer (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) and Bourdo won the event in a time of 3:24.02.
Trine also picked up top performances by sophomore Cameron Lounsbury (Williamstown, Mich./Williamstown) in the 100m dash, finishing second with a time of 11.69. In addition, the 4x100m relay squad of seniors Kent Biller (Nappanee, Ind./Northwood) and Brock Goodman (Goshen, Ind./Goshen), freshman Nate Grigsby (Royal Center, Ind./Pioneer) and Lounsbury, also finished second, in a time of 44.50.
In the field event for the guys, sophomore Nicholas Muir (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg) took home the gold in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.13m. Fellow sophomore Clayton Whistler (Rochester, Ind./Rochester) also picked up a win for the Thunder in the javelin with a heave of 43.53. In the high jump, Shaffer finished runner-up with a leap of 1.80m. Senior Andrew Stein (Lindenhurt, Ill./Lakes Community) finished second in the triple jump with a distance of 12.20m. Junior Dustin Stutzman (Topeka, Ind./Westview) and senior Jason Casteel (Wakarusa, Ind./Northwood) each finished third in the discus and shot puts respectively. Stutzman completed his round with a throw of 14.28m while Casteel made a throw of 37.98m.
On the women’s side, Bethel also won with 272 points. Trine finished just two points behind Trinity Christian who finished second.
Freshman Trisha King (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) made it a sweep for the Thunder in the 400m as she took home the top spot with a time of 59.75. King also finished second in the 200m dash with a time of 27.38. Trine’s other win on the track came from sophomore Danielle Shepherd (Carelton, Mich./Airport) in the 800m, as Trine took home three of the top five spots. Along with Shepherd, junior Annalisa Krug (Battle Creek, Mich./Pennfield) finished third in a time of 2.22.60 while fellow junior Sannie Anderson (Hesperia, Mich./Hesperia) came in fifth at 2.31.03.
The ladies also pulled out a second place finish in the 4x400m relay, as the team of Anderson, King, Krug and freshman Allison Everetts (Kokomo, Ind./Western) finished in a time of 4:09.27.
In the field events, junior Jamie Meegan (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) took home the Thunder’s final win of the day, winning the discus with a throw of 32.18m. In the shot put, freshman Erika Rockwell (Coldwater, Mich./Coldwater) took home a second place finish with a distance of 11.37m.
Trine will head to the Anderson (IN) Easter Invitational on April 5 beginning at 4:00 p.m.