Thunder Men Set Three School Records in Zimmer Classic

Thunder Men Set Three School Records in Zimmer Classic

ANGOLA, Ind.-- The Trine men's track and field team set three new school record in the Don and Riley Zimmer Indoor Classic, held Friday at Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Athletic Recreation Center.

The Thunder set a new school-record time in the Distance Medley Relay. James Gregory (Akron, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley), Michael Becker (Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon), Robert Duke (Greentown, Ind./Eastern) and Jonathan Phillips (Royal Center, Ind./Pioneer Junior-Senior) combined to run a time of 10:56.96. Becker closed out the record-setting performance by racing over the finish line one second ahead of the previous school mark.

Freshman Nicholas Zak (Saint John, Ind./Hanover Central) also set a school record by one second. Zak won the One Mile Run in 4:27.78 to win the race by three seconds. It was the first time Zak had competed in that event at the college level.

Sam Gilly (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden) continued his dominance in the Weight Throw in setting a new school record. Gilly's throw of 58 feet, 3 inches marked the second time the senior has set a new program-best mark this year. Gilly's throw is tied for the third best in the nation in Division III this year.

Courtney Mitchell (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Leurs) also highlighted a strong performance by Trine throwers by winning the Shot Put. The senior's winning throw was measured at 46 feet, 11.5 inches.

Leading the Thunder elsewhere in field events were Trey Waagen (Horton, Mich./Hanover-Horton) and Jacob Payne (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) in the pole vault. The freshman duo each topped 13 feet, 10 inches. Waagen's performance was a new personal-best.

Troy Fritz (Monte Vista, Colo./Sangre de Cristo) notched a third-place finish in the Triple Jump, while fellow freshmen Mitchell Martin (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) and Nicholas Gerber (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) each added new personal-bests in the weight throw.

Elsewhere on track, Jordan Zamarron (Ionia, Mich./Ionia) notched a third-place finish in his first-ever collegiate performance in the 3000-meter Run. Garrett Benedict (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) set a new personal-best by over 30 seconds in the 5K to place third.

Gregory added a fifth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 8.85 seconds. Trammel Abbott (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) added a seventh-place finish in the event.

Gregory, Abbott, Jacob Leopold (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) and James Washington (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) combined for a fourth-place finish in the 4-x-400-meter Relay.

Click Here for Complete Results.

Trine returns to the track Feb. 5-6 at the Hillsdale Wide Track Classic.