NEW ORLEANS -- The Trine men's track and field team is ranked in the first regional rankings released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
The Thunder debuted at No. 7 in the Great Lakes Region in the rankings released today. The USTFCCCA Regional Rankings are calculated using individual performance data from TFRRS. Performances are used to project the order of finish in a regional meet. Trine features eight performances ranked among the top 10 in the region.
CLICK HERE for USTFCCCA Regional Rankings.
Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio / Fremont-Ross) tops the regional rankings in the long jump with a distance of 7.18 meters (23 feet, 6.25 inches). Barnett's school-record jump resulted in the sophomore earning MIAA Field Athlete of the Week honors last week. His jump ranks fifth in the nation.
Andrew Bunting (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) headlines a pair of regionally-ranked efforts in the weight throw. Bunting ranks third in the Great Lakes Region and 19th in the nation with his best toss of 16.88 meters (54 feet, 8.75 inches). Mitch Martin (Monroe, Mich. / Monroe) is ranked eighth in the region in the event.
Jasper Bassett (Auburn, Ind. / DeKalb) leads the efforts on the track with the third-best regional time in the 400-meter dash. Bassett's 50.41-second effort ranks 13th nationally. Bassett, Patrick Richardville (Leo, Ind. / Leo), Jacob Leopold (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) and Mat Bollan (Pleasant Lake, Ind. / Angola) combine to make up the fifth-best 4-x-400 relay team in the region.
Richardville boasts the eighth-best 200-meter dash time in the region, clocking in at 23.04 seconds.
Trine's Distance Medley Relay group also ranks fifth in the region. Freshmen Adrien Howard (Marion, Ind. / Marion), Jacob Root (Vicksburg, Mich. / Vicksburg) and Vilis Vuskalns (Indianapolis, Ind. / Beech Grove), and sophomore Jonathan Phillips (Royal Center, Ind. / Pioneer) combined for a school-record time of 10:52.99 to rank 21st nationally.
Jacob Payne (LaPorte, Ind. / LaPorte) rounds out Trine's regionally ranked performers at seventh in the pole vault. In the sophomore cleared 4.25 meters (13 feet, 11.25 inches) in his best effort of the season.
Trine hosts the Don and Riley Zimmer Indoor Classic tonight in Keith E. Busse / Steel Dynamics Athletic Recreation Center. Events are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.