ALMA, MICH.--Two first-place finishes and a school-record performance highlighted the Trine men's track and field team performance in MIAA Field Day, which concluded Thursday.
The 4 x 400 Relay team placed first, while Tyler Bourdo (Plainwell, Mich./Delton-Kellogg) turned in a first-place finish and set another school-record in another race. Their performances helped the Thunder in earning 87 points in the event, which was good enough for fifth-place. MIAA Field Day serves as the official championship for the conference. The top eight competitors in each event earned points for their respective teams. Alma College hosted this year's event at Bahlke Field. Calvin won the Field Day men's title with 210 points.
Bourdo, Lincoln Frey (Pettisville, Ohio/Pettisville), Luke Fimreite (McCordsville, Ind./Mount Vernon) and Nate Smoker combined to run a time of 3:19.74 seconds to win the 4 x 400 Relay. The quartet of runners bested their previous season-best time in the event by two seconds.
Trine's other first-place finish was turned in by Bourdo, who won the 400-Meter Dash in 48.72 seconds. He immediately followed that performance by breaking the school-record in the 200-Meter Dash with a time of 21.79 seconds. The school-record time was good enough for second in the event.
Fimreite finished second in the 400-Meter Dash to give the Thunder the top two performers in the event. The sophomore's time of 50.45 seconds was a season-best in the event. He also placed seventh in the 200-Meter Dash.
In field events, Andrew Bunting (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) led the way with a third-place throw in the Discus. Bunting's throw came in at 137 feet, one inch. Sam Gilly (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden) placed sixth in the event.
Dakota Bagwell (Kokomo, Ind./Western) placed fourth in the Hammer Throw, coming in at 147 feet, four inches. Bunting finished just behind in fifth-place, with a throw of 146 feet.
Jacob Leopold (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) added a fifth-place finish in the 800-Meter Run, while James Gregory (Warsaw, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) placed sixth in the 110-Meter Hurdles.
Those performances came on the heels of some strong performances that laid the groundwork on day one. Frey and John Daniel placed second and third respectively in the Pole Vault. Gilly added a fifth-place finish in the Shot Put.
Trine will compete in the Louisville Twilight next Friday, May 9.