ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's track & field team started off its indoor season with a win in its first home meet of the year that featured three other teams in Angola, Ind.
The Thunder took first place with a total of 163 team points. Olivet (Mich.) College was second with 103 points and Albion (Mich.) College was third at 94 points.
Individually, Trine captured four event titles in the running events in the mile, 60-meter hurdles, 60-meter dash and the 3000-meter run.
In the mile, four Trine runners finished in the top-five, led by the duo of seniors Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) and Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) who finished first and second. O'Brien posted the overall winning mark of 4:27.67 and Neuzerling cross the finish line in a time of 4:37.55.
Jake Gladieux (Oregon, Ohio/Whitmer) recorded the top overall time in both the prelims and the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. He ran a time of 8.40 seconds in the prelims to advance to the finals where he improved his earlier time by three one-hundreths of a second for a mark of 8.37 seconds to take first place in the event.
In the 60-meter dash, junior Josh Davis (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) paced all runners with a mark of 7.04 seconds in the finals and freshman Danny Vinson (Berrien Springs, Mich./Berrien Springs) also place in the top-three by finishing two spots back of Davis in a time of 7.14 seconds.
Sophomore Aiden Lapp (South Bend, Ind./Riley) ran a time of 2:04.49 in the 800-meter run to lead all Thunder competitors and ranked as the third quickest in the race. Lapp was one of three runners to record top-five times in the event.
Sophomore Ben Williams (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison) and Davis finished back-to-back in the 200-meter dash with Williams clipping the tape in a time of 23.06 seconds to grab second place. Davis finished a close third after running a time of 23.26 seconds. As a team, the Thunder took second thru fifth place in the event and had a total of seven participants place in the top-10.
Senior Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) rounded out the event winners and the team's second individual victory in the distance events, after he captured the 3000-meter run by posting a mark of 8:46.95. Fellow senior Derek Miller (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview) completed the race in a time of 8:52.69 which was good enough to finish as the runner-up.
Trine had a solid effort in the field events that included three runner-up performances by junior Ben Alston (Adrian, Mich./Adrian), Williams and junior Jon-Matthew Spaw (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble).
Alston placed second in the weight throw thanks to a best toss of 49' 2.25". In addition, teammate Theodore Samra (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt) finished just behind in third place after a throw of 49' 0.25".
In the long jump, Williams' best leap of 21' 11.50" was good enough to earn him runner-up status and Spaw was second in the pole vault following a best attempt of 12' 5.50". Senior Alex Sliter (Bryan, Ohio/Fairview) also competed in the pole vault and cleared the bar at a top height of 11' 11.75" which put him third overall.
Trine is scheduled to host another home meet on Saturday, Feb. 13. The start time for the meet is scheduled for 10 a.m.