WAVERLY, IOWA -- Members of the Trine University men's indoor track & field teams competed at the opening day of the Division III Elite Indoor Championships hosted by Wartburg (Iowa) College in Waverly, Iowa.
The Thunder ended day one with a team total of 20 points and are currently fifth of 23 teams. Host Wartburg leads the team standings with 59 points and is followed by Loras (Iowa) College with 41 points. St. John's (Minn.) University is third with 33 points.
Highlighting the day's events for Trine was the performance of senior Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) who captured the mile run with a time of 4:11.43. His time improved upon his own school indoor record that he set at last week's Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Indoor Championships (4:15.55).
Another record-setting effort was turned in by the Distance Medley Relay team comprised of senior Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), sophomore Jake Gladieux (Oregon, Ohio/Whitmer), sophomore Aiden Lapp (South Bend, Ind./Riley) and O'Brien. The quartet completed the race in a time of 10:17.54 and improved the previous mark of 10:22.40 that was set earlier this year at the final Trine home meet back on Feb. 27 by the group of Neuzerling, sophomore Kyran Pearson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central), Lapp and O'Brien.
Senior Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) competed in the 5000-meter run and placed fourth in a time of 14:53.04. Sophomore Ben Williams (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison) placed in the top-10 in the 200-meter dash after running a time of 22.73 seconds.
Additionally, two Trine runners qualified for the finals in their respective events in Gladieux and freshman Danny Vinson (Berrien Springs, Mich./Berrien Springs). Gladieux competed in the 60-meter hurdles and posted a qualifying time of 8.33 seconds whcih was the fifth fastest mark and Vinson ran in the 60-meter dash and was fifth in the prelims with a time of 7.04 seconds. The finals for both events will be held tomorrow (Saturday).
Trine will wrap-up the two-day Elite Indoor Championships tomorrow (Saturday, Mar. 13) with the first events scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa.