ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's track and field team finished second at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Indoor Championship hosted by Trine at the Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Athletic and Recreation Center.
The Thunder finished with a team score of 145 points to place second of seven teams. Calvin (Mich.) College finished as the overall team champion with 173.5 points. Hope (Mich.) College rounded out the top-three with 100 points.
Trine had four event winners in junior Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio/Fremont-Ross) in the long jump, senior Patrick Richardville (Leo, Ind./Leo) who captured individual titles in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes and junior Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) placed first in the 3,000-meter run.
On the track, Richardville set a school and conference record in the 60-meter dash in consecutive attempts beginning with the prelims in which he broke his own all-time mark by one one-hundreths of a second. Richardville ran a time of 6.96 seconds in the prelims to better his previous record of 6.97 seconds which he ran during the 2015-16 season. In the finals, Richardville then improved his preliminary time by five one-hundreths of a second, 6.91 seconds, to re-break the school record and set the MIAA all-time mark while claiming the individual conference title. His time in the event was also the 11th fastest mark in NCAA Division III.
Richardville also went on to capture the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.44 seconds. Two other Trine runners placed in the top-five, including Barnett who placed second behind Richardville with a time of 22.54 seconds. Sophomore Jacob Root (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) recorded the fifth-quickest time of 23.03 seconds.
Neuzerling added his name to the list of event winners with a first-place finish in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:58.96. Fellow junior Jonathan Phillips (Royal Center, Ind./Pioneer Junior-Senior) also competed in the event and placed third overall in a time of 9.00.10.
The Thunder placed second in the distance medley relay with the team of freshman Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli), senior Nick Hayes (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville), freshman Noah Acker (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) and senior Kody Snyder (Burnettsville, Ind./Twin Lake) posting a combined time of 10:44.46.
In the 4x400-meter relay, Trine placed third overall with the team of junior Gregory Littlejohn (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte), junior Jasper Bassett (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb), freshman Logan Deel (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) and Richardville recording a combined time of 3:26.53.
Other top performances in the running events included a fifth-place finish by freshman Derek Miller (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview) in the one-mile run with a time of 4:29.44. Littlejohn placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.85 seconds.
In the long jump, Barnett leaped a distance of 23' 4.75" (7.13 meters) to take top honors. His mark was 3.5 inches shy of his own conference indoor record in the event (23' 8.25"). He also competed in the triple jump and placed third with a best distance of 42' 11.75" (13.10 meters) and shattered the previous school record by nearly a foot (42' 0.75") which was done by Logan Lindsley during the 2015-16 season.
Trine had a pair of top-five placers in the weight throw with junior Mitchell Martin (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) finishing as runner-up with a distance of 54' 2.75" (16.53 meters) and fellow junior Nicholas Gerber (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) was fourth at 52' 6.75" (16.02 meters).
Three individuals finished in the top-five in the pole vault led by junior Jacob Payne (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) who finished second with a height of 14' 3.25" (4.35 meters). Senior Collin Butler (Spring Lake, Mich./Fruitport) finished just behind Payne in third place with 14' 1.25" (4.30 meters) and junior Ryan Haarer (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) placed fifth with a height of 13' 11.25" (4.25 meters).
Sophomore Skyler Dunckley (Cedar, Mich./Traverse City West) recorded a mark of 46' 6.25" in the shot put to take third place.
As event winners, Barnett, Richardville and Neuzerling all garnered All-MIAA accolades.