ADRIAN, MICH. -- For the second straight year, Trine University junior Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio/Fremont-Ross) captured the individual title in the men's long jump at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
As a team, the Thunder are currently in third place after the first day of events with a score of 30 points. Calvin (Mich.) College leads the team standings with 42 points and is followed closely behind by Albion (Mich.) College with 41 points.
Barnett highlighted the day's field events for Trine with a best mark of 22' 11.25" (6.99 meters) to win the long jump.
Also recording points on the day was the effort of freshman Chance Wilson (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) who placed fifth in the javelin after a throw of 147' 3.00" (44.90 meters).
In addition, three Thunder athletes finished within the top-eight in the shot put with junior Nicholas Gerber (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) leading the way with a toss of 43' 5.25" (13.24 meters) that put him in fifth place overall. Sophomore Skyler Dunckley (Cedar, Mich./Traverse City West) placed one spot back of Gerber in fifth place following a throw of 43' 1.75" (13.15 meters). Freshman Nicolas Kane (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) rounded out the point scorers with an eighth-place finish in a distance of 42' 6.00" (12.95 meters).
In the running events, the duo of freshman Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) and senior Collin Elek (Osceola, Ind./Penn) scored points in the only finals event in the 10,000-meter run with Beakas placing fourth in a time of 33:25.55 and Elek was sixth at 33:55.91.
In the prelims, multiple athletes qualfied for tomorrow's finals, including junior Jasper Bassett (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) in the 400-meter dash and ran a time of 50.47 seconds to place second overall.
Senior Patrick Richardville (Leo, Ind./Leo) and Barnett both qualified in the 100-meter dash with Richardville recording the top overall prelim time of 11.12 seconds. Barnett finished in third place in a time of 11.45 seconds.
Trine also had a pair of competitors move on tomorrow's finals race in the 800-meter run in senior Paul Baker (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) and junior Nicholas Zak (Saint John, Ind./Hanover Central). Baker posted the fourth overall quickest time of 1:58.24 and Zak ran a time of 1:59.29 to take eighth.
In the 200-meter dash, three competitors placed in the top-eight led by Barnett and Richardville who placed second and third in the prelims with times of 22.82 seconds and 22.94 seconds, respectively. In addition, Bassett also qualified with a time of 23.13 seconds to place seventh.
The men's track and field team will concluded the two-day MIAA Outdoor Championships tomorrow (Friday, May. 4) at Adrian College with the first events scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.