HANOVER, IND. -- The Trine University men's track & field team began the 2018 outdoor season with a third-place finish at the Hanover College Invitational in Hanover, Ind.
The Thunder finished with a team score of 94 points to place third of 13 teams. Adrian (Mich.) College came in first place with a team score of 120 points and was followed by Centre (Ky.) College in second place with 113 points.
On the track, Trine had an impressive showing in the 5000-meter distance event with three individuals finshing in the top-five. Junior Jonathan Phillips (Royal Center, Ind./Pioneer Junior-Senior) paced the Thunder in the event with a time of 15:25.04 and placed second overall. Freshman Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) finished just behind Phillips in third place with a mark of 15:43.76 and was followed by fellow freshman Derek Miller (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview) in fourth place at 15:47.44. In addition, two other runners posted top-10 times in senior Robert Duke (Greentown, Ind./Eastern) who placed eighth (15:59.92) and freshman Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) was 10th (16:06.83).
In the 1500-meter run, senior Paul Baker (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) recorded the top invidual time for Trine of 4:09.80 and crossed the finish line in third place.
Rounding out the top running performances were the duo of freshman Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) and junior Kody Snyder (Burnettsville, Ind./Twin Lake) who finished in third and fourth place in the 3000-meter steeplechase with times of 10:18.81 and 10:36.41, respectively.
The field events were highlighted by a pair of event wins in the shot put and hammer throw events both by junior Nicholas Gerber (Goshen, Ind./Goshen). Gerber posted a mark of 45' 2.50" (13.78 meters) to take top honors in the shot put and followed with a first-place showing in the hammer with a best distance of 175' 11.00" (53.62 meters) which also ranks as the 13th farthest in Divsion III so far.
Also in the shot put, freshman Chance Wilson (Eklhart, Ind./Concord) finished second behind Gerber with a distance of 43' 11.25" (13.39 meters) and sophomore Skyler Dunckley (Cedar, Mich./Traverse City West) posted a top-10 mark at 41' 3.00" (12.57 meters) which was good enough for sixth place.
The Thunder had an additional top-five placing in the hammer in junior Mitchell Martin (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) who had a best toss of 167' 10.00" (51.17 meters) and placed third overall.
In the discuss, freshman Matt Klenke (Alexandria, Ind./Alexandria) and Martin finished back-to-back with Klenke taking third with a distance of 133' 6.00" (40.70 meters) and Martin was fourth at 132' 8.00" (40.44 meters). Freshman Nicolas Kane (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) also placed in the top-10 with a best effort of 122' 4.00" (37.29 meters) which was good enough for eighth place.
Trine rounded out the top field efforts in the javelin with senior David Schaaf (Kokomo, Ind./Northwestern) who was seventh following a toss of 127' 4.00" (38.83 meters). Wilson also competed in the event and recorded his second top-10 finish with an eighth-place placement following a throw of 121' 6.00" (37.03 meters).
Trine is scheduled to travel to Indianapolis to take part in the all-day Marian University Knight Open on Friday, Apr. 6.