Thunder in Second after Day One of Conference Meet

Thunder in Second after Day One of Conference Meet

OLIVET, Mich.-- The Trine men's track and field team is in second place at MIAA Field Day after day one of the conference championship meet.

Courtney Mitchell (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Bishop Luers), Sam Gilly (St. Joseph, Ill. / St. Joseph-Ogden), Nick Gerber (Goshen, Ind. / Goshen) and Derek Scott (Niles, Mich. / Niles) paced a strong opening day by Thunder throwers, winning four of the top eight spots in the shot put. Mitchell placed third with a throw of 46 feet, 3.75 inches. Gilly placed fourth, while Gerber added a personal-record throw to place sixth. Scott rounded out point-earners with an eighth-place finish.

Troy Fritz (Monte Vista, Colo. / Sangre de Cristo) provided the highlight of the day as he shattered his own personal-best in the javelin throw by 23 feet. Fritz's new personal-record throw of 161 feet, 2 inches was good enough for third place. Jessie Dowell (Remington, Ind. / Tri Junior-Senior) added a fifth place finish.

Jacob Payne (LaPorte, Ind. / LaPorte) placed third in the pole vault. John Daniel (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll) added a fifth-place performance in the event.

Austin Ganger (Mishawaka, Ind. / Mishawaka) rounded out the top performances in final events on day one with seventh-place finish in the 10K. Ganger ran a time of 33:12.02.

Trine was able to secure numerous championship bids with preliminary results. Patrick Richardville (Leo, Ind. / Leo) qualified for the finals of the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Daniel also qualified for the 100-meter finals. 

James Gregory (Akron, Ind. / Tippecanoe Valley) also qualified for the finals of two events. Gregory ran the fifth-best preliminary time in bot the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles.

The Thunder got three qualifying times from performers in the 800-meter run. Nicholas Zak (Saint John, Ind. / Hanover Central) ran the best preliminary time in the conference, while Jacob Leopold (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) and Paul Baker (Columbus, Ind. / Columbus East) also qualified. Baker ran a personal-best in the event.

Trine also notched two qualifying performances in the 400-meter dash preliminaries, with Zach Markley (Winamac, Ind. / Winamac) placing fourth and Jasper Bassett (Auburn, Ind. / DeKalb) finishing sixth.

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The performances of Thunder student-athletes left the team in second place after day one of MIAA Field Day. Trine has scored 36.5 points thus far. The conference championship concludes tomorrow.