GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - At the 121st annual MIAA Field Day, the Trine University track and field teams finished fifth and sixth respectively. Freshman Trisha King (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) took home the Thunder’s only win while setting a school record in the 400m.
On the men’s side, the Thunder finished with 83.5 points, just 2.5 points behind Albion. Hope took home the men’s title with 206 points.
The men’s top performance came from the 4x400m relay team of juniors Dan Linder (DeWitt, Mich./Grand Ledge) and Nate Konzen (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Christian) and freshmen Randy Shaffer (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) and Tyler Bourdo (Plainwell, Mich./Delton Kellogg) who finished second with a time of 3:19.15. Bourdo also finished third in the 400m with a time of 49.23, fourth in the long jump with a distance of 6.38m and sixth in the 200m in a time of 22.51. Linder and Shaffer also picked up points in the 400m finishing fifth and seventh with times of 50.84 and 51.69 respectively. Konzen took home fifth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 57.65. Junior Corbin Buckler (Marion, Ind./Eastbrook) finished fourth in the 800m, finishing in a time of 1:57.41.
In the field events, junior Dustin Stutzman (Topeka, Ind./Westview) picked up two bronze medals in the hammer throw and shot put, with distances of 42.22m and 15.61m respectively. Senior Jason Casteel (Wakarusa, Ind./Northwood) also had a top finish in the shot put, hurling a distance of 14.57m to place fifth. Sophomore Lincoln Frey (Pettisville, Ohio/Pettisville) also picked up a bronze medal in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.10m. In the triple jump, senior Andrew Stein (Lindenhurt, Ill./Lakes Community) finished fifth with a leap of 12.78m.
The women’s team finished with 40 points as Calvin took the team title with 273 points.
King swept the MIAA season series in the 400m after also winning the event at the Jamboree. King broke her own school record, finishing in a time of 58.75 to win the event by over a half a second. King also finished sixth in the 200m with a time of 26.78.
King anchored the 4x400m relay team that finished sixth, as the team included juniors Annalisa Krug (Battle Creek, Mich./Pennfield) and Sannie Anderson (Hesperia, Mich./Hesperia) and fellow freshman Allison Everetts (Kokomo, Ind./Western), as the squad broke their own school record by nearly five seconds, finishing in a time of 4:04.37.
In the field events for the Lady Thunder, freshman Erika Rockwell (Coldwater, Mich./Coldwater) turned in the top performance, finishing fourth in the hammer throw with a distance of 38.21m. Also in the hammer, junior Jamie Meegan (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) finished seventh with a throw of 36.78m. Rockwell also finished fifth in the shot put with a distance of 11.66m. Meegan turned in two other top eight performances, finishing sixth in the javelin with a throw of 30.70m and seventh in the discus with a distance of 37.21m. In the pole vault, Everetts and sophomore Katie Finch (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine) both cleared heights of 2.75m, but Everetts finished seventh while Finch was eighth on the tiebreaker.
Trine will compete at the North Central College Dr. Keller Invitational on May 10, as several athletes look to qualify for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.