ANGOLA, Ind.-- The Trine men's track and field team will be seeking its second conference title of the 2015-16 school year at MIAA Field Day, which begins this Thursday.
The Thunder previously won the inaugural MIAA Indoor Tack and Field Championship during the winter and will be looking to cap off the school year with a second title. Trine is coming off a second-place finish in last year's Field Day, the team's best outdoor finish as a member of the conference. Trine returns two All-MIAA performers and projects to contend for first-place finishes in numerous events.
Patrick Richardville (Leo, Ind. / Leo) is the conference's reigning 100-meter dash champion and an All-MIAA performer. Richardville has the fifth-best time in the event in the MIAA this season and also owns the third-best time in the 200-meter dash thus far. He was named MIAA Track Athlete of the Week after winning both events at the Hanover Invitational earlier this spring.
The Thunder will also be looking to defend its three-straight conference titles in the 4-x-400-meter relay. They enter Field Day with the top-seeded time in the conference, which was run by Richardville, Jasper Bassett (Auburn, Ind. / DeKalb), Zach Markley (Winamac, Ind. / Winamac) and Jacob Leopold (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf).
Bassett and Markley also own two of the top four 400-meter dash times in the conference individually. Leopold, along with freshman Nicholas Zak (Saint John, Ind. / Hanover Central) give the Thunder a pair of contenders in the 800-meter run.
Sam Gilly (St. Joseph, Ill. / St. Joseph-Ogden) leads a deep and talented group of Thunder throwers. Gilly owns the MIAA's best hammer throw this spring after earning All-America honors in the weight throw during the winter. Gilly is also expected to contribute points in the discus throw.
Courtney Mitchell (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Bishop Luers) is considered a contender for the shot put title and has the second-best throw in the MIAA this spring. Derek Scott (Niles, Mich. / Niles), Mitch Martin (Monroe, Mich. / Monroe) and Nick Gerber (Goshen, Ind. / Goshen) will also compete for points in the event.
Jessie Dowell (Remington, Ind. / Tri Junior-Senior) has a MIAA Field Athlete of the Week honor to his credit this season, which he earned for his performance in the javelin throw at the Hanover Invitational. He has the third-best throw in the conference this year.
John Daniel (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll) won the conference pole vault title last year. Daniel has focused more on sprinting events this spring and will make up a leg of Trine's 4-x-100-meter relay.
Trine's spring season was highlighted by a first-place finish in the Hanover Invitational. The Thunder won the event by 57 points. Trine also placed third in the Indiana Division III Championships.
Field Day events begin Thursday, May 5 at Olivet College. Events are slated to begin at 1 p.m. Day one performances include several field events, preliminaries for sprint and hurdle events and the conference 10K championship. The rest of the meet wraps up Friday, May 6 with all remaining events.
Live results for Field Day are available. Live results will be posted at THIS LINK when available.
