SPRINGFIELD, OHIO -- The Trine University men's outdoor track and field started off the season with a win at the Tiger Triangular hosted by Wittenberg (Ohio) University in Springfield, Ohio.
The Thunder finished first of three teams with a total of 143 points. Ohio Wesleyan University was second at 125 points and host Wittenberg was third with 74 points.
Combined, Trine won a total of nine individual events and had a trio of multi-event winners in sophomores Ben Williams (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison), Jake Gladieux (Oregon, Ohio/Whitmer) and junior Noah McClellan (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central).
Williams won both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash events and was followed in second place by teammate William Thonn (Rochester, Ind./Rochester) in both races. Williams ran a top time of 11.08 seconds in the 100m and then followed with a mark of 22.17 seconds to place first overall.
Gladieux swept the hurdles races starting with a time of 14.98 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and then crossed the finish line with a winning mark of 53.68 seconds in the 400m hurdles.
McClellan won a pair of field events that included the triple jump and javelin. In the triple jump, McClellan lept a distance of 39' 4.00" to take first and he was one of three Trine competitors to finish in the top three in the javelin with a winning throw of 152' 0.00".
Senior Noah Acker (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) took top honors in the 5000-meter run and clipped the tape in a time of 15:32.49. Additionally, the Thunder captured one of the relay races in the 4x400-meter relay. The team of sophomores Kyran Pearson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central), Connor Kissinger (Garrett, Ind./Garrett), freshman Brandt McNeil (Camden, Mich./Camden-Frontier) and Gladieux finished with a combined time of 3:27.47 to win the event.
Rounding out the list of event winners was freshman Alexander Lewis (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) who won the shot put with a best attempt of 44' 2.75".
Trine is next scheduled to compete in the Olivet College Invitational on Friday, Apr. 2 in Olivet, Mich.