MUNCIE, IND. -- The Trine University men's track and field team traveled to Muncie, Ind. to compete in the Ball State University Challenge against schools from Division I, II, III and NAIA. The meet was unscored.
The Thunder had a best overall finish in the running events in the 3000-meter steeplechase with the duo of freshman Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) and junior Kody Snyder (Burnettsville, Ind./Twin Lake) who both placed in the top-five with O'Brien crossing the finish line in fourth place with a time of 10:09.18 and Snyder was fifth at 10:13.08.
Senior Patrick Richardville (Leo, Ind./Leo) posted a pair of top times with a best overall individual finish in the 100-meter dash at 10.83 seconds which ranked as the seventh quickest time in the event and he also placed ninth in the 200-meter dash with a mark of 21.81 seconds. His time in the 100-meter dash ranks as the 19th fastest to date in Division III and his time in the 200-meter dash also ranks as the 19th quickest.
In the 400-meter dash, junior Jasper Bassett (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) placed eighth after completing the event in a time of 49.93 seconds.
Rounding out the top finishes in the running events was the combination of freshman Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) and sophomore Vilis Vuskalns (Indianapolis, Ind./Beech Grove) who placed ninth and 10th respectively in the 5000-meter run with times of 16:00.53 and 16:05.24.
Off the track, junior Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio/Fremont-Ross) placed fifth in the long jump with a best leap of 23' 2.75" (7.08 meters), falling 2.75" shy of tying his own school outdoor record. His distance in the event, puts him 11th in NCAA Division III.
Junior Ryan Haarer (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) also recorded a fifth-place finish, but in the pole vault after clearing the bar in a height of 13' 11.25" (4.25 meters). Senior Collin Butler (Spring Lake, Mich./Fruitport) competed with Haarer in the event and cleared a height of 13' 5.50" (4.10 meters) which put him in sixth place overall.
In the javelin, freshman Matt Klenke (Alexandria, Ind./Alexandria) and senior David Schaaf (Kokomo, Ind./Northwestern) finished back-to-back in seventh and eighth place with Klenke posting a mark of 139' 3.75" (42.46 meters) and Schaaf recording a best throw of 126' 6.00" (38.56 meters).
Junior Nick Gerber (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) completed the list of top-10 finishes in the field events with a seventh-place finish in the hammer throw with a distance of 176' 9.25" (53.88 meters) and also ninth in the shot put with a distance of 45' 10.75" (13.99 meters). His throw in the hammer also puts him in the top-25 nationally at 23rd overall so far this season.