HILLSDALE, MICH. -- The Trine Univeristy men's indoor track & field team competed in the unscored Wide Track Classic hosted by Hillsdale (Mich.) College in Hillsdale, Mich.
In the running events, sophomore Josh Davis (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) qualified for the finals of the 60-meter dash and finished seventh overall after posting a time of 7.08 seconds. Freshman Ben Williams (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison) also advanced to the finals and finished two spots back of Davis in ninth place with a time of 7.15 seconds.
Williams also had a strong finish in the 200-meter dash of 23.13 seconds which turned out to be the fifth fastest time among the field composed of NCAA Division II, III and NAIA schools. Fellow freshman Kyran Pearson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) placed in the top 15 in the event in 12th place after running a time of 23.35 seconds.
In the 400m dash, Pearson placed in the top 10 in sixth place with a mark of 52.15 seconds.
Highlighting the afternoon on the track was junior Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) who won the 800-meter run in a time of 1:58.45. He was one of three runners to finish in the top 15, including one of two in the top three as fellow junior Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) who ran a time of 1:59.88 to finish third. Sophomore Lance Williamson (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont) was 15th in the race after posting a time of 2:05.89.
In the mile, freshman Skyler Schrope (Charlottesville, Ind./Eastern Hancock) recorded the fastest time for Trine and had the eighth quickest overall at 4:37.53. Also in the long distance races, sophomore Will Huffman (Greenfield, Ind./Eastern Hancock) competed in the 3000-meter run and recorded a time of 9:29.06 and finished sixth.
Freshman Jake Gladieux (Oregon, Ohio/Whitmer) advanced through the quarterfinals and semifinals of the 60-meter hurdles and ran his fastest time of the event in the finals of 8.44 seconds which was good enough for seventh place.
In relay competition, Trine had two teams post top-10 marks in the 4x400-meter championship relay and in the distance medley championship relay. In the 4x400m, the team of Gladieux, Pearson, senior Jacob Root (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) and freshman Connor Kissinger (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) had a combined time of 3:30.45 to finish sixth overall.
The Thunder had two teams finish back-to-back in the distance medley, and place in the top five, with the team of junior Derek Miller (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview), Gladieux, Neuzerling and O'Brien finishing fourth after a school-record time of 10:28.83. The team of Schrope, Pearson, Williamson and junior Noah Acker (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) finished a spot back in fifth place after a combined time of 10:47.69.
Off the track, Williams finished in the top-15 in the long jump with a distance of 21' 0.75" to place 11th overall. Then in the triple jump, sophomore Noah McClellan (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) placed fifth after a best leap of 41' 1.75."
Trine had one competitor place in the top-15 in the shot put in junior Nicolas Kane (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) who was 14th after a throw of 43' 11.25." In the weight throw, senior Mitch Martin (Bowling Green, Ohio) was fifth with a throw of 53' 7.50."
Trine will travel to Greencastle, Ind. to compete in the DePauw University Invitational next Saturday, Feb. 15. The first events are slated to start at 11 a.m.