HILLSDALE, MICH. -- The Trine University men's outdoor track and field team ended the second day of competition of the annual Gina Relays today (Friday, Apr. 23) hosted by Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich.
Trine had one event winner on the day in sophomore Jake Gladieux (Oregon, Ohio/Whitmer) who took top honors in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.89 seconds. He also competed in the 110-meter hurdles and recorded the third fastest time of 14.43 seconds.
Also highlighting the day was the performance of senior Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) in the 3000-meter steeplechase. O'Brien finished as the runner-up in the event, and set a Trine outdoor record doing so with a time of 9:06.98. His time broke the previous school record (9:09) that stood since 1979 and was then set by Jeff Lauber.
The Thunder had three individuals finish in the top-10 in the 100-meter dash in senior Jacob Root (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg), sophomore William Thonn (Rochester, Ind./Rochester) and fellow sophomore Ben Williams (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison). Root had the best time of the three at 11.07 seconds and placed sixth overall. Thonn finished in a tie for seventh place with a mark of 11.10 seconds and Williams was 10th in a time of 11.15 seconds.
Root and Williams also went on to compete in the 200-meter dash and finished back-to-back with Root taking fifth place after posting a time of 22.19 seconds and Williams was sixth with a mark of 22.20 seconds.
Senior Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) ran in the 1500-meter "championship" race and finished in the top-five thanks to an event time of 3:53.28 which was the fourth fastest overall.
Trine also had two runners place in the top-10 of the 10,000-meter run "championship" race in seniors Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) and Derek Miller (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview). Beakas paced the duo and finished third overall after running a time of 30:21.46. Miller finished five spots back in eighth place with a time of 30:35.57.
Sophomore Kyran Pearson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) rounded out the top performances on the track with a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash after clipping the tape in a time of 50.41 seconds.
In the field events, Trine faired well in the javelin with four individuals recording top-10 marks. Junior Noah McClellan (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) led the way with a distance of 150' 11.00" to grab third place. Freshman Nick DeSantis (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Lakeland) had the second-best mark of the group at 140' 10.00" and was good enough to take sixth place. Senior Nicholas Kane (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) was ninth in the event with a best attempt of 123' 6.00" and Eirik Eggen was 10th with a throw of 120' 11.00".
Trine also had a pair of competitors place in the top-10 in both the hammer throw and long jump. In the hammer, the duo of juniors Theodore Samra (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt) and Bem Alston (Adrian, Mich./Adrian) placed fourth and 10th with throws of 151' 8.00" and 141' 4.00", respectively. Freshman Danny Vinson (Berrien Springs, Mich./Berrien Springs) recorded the top finish for Trine in the long jump of third place thanks to a leap of 21' 0.00". Fellow freshman, Anthony Latin (Benton Harbor, Mich./Berrien Springs) had a best distance of 18' 8.50" to finish in 10th place.
Junior Greyseon Spohn (Peru, Ind./Peru) completed the list of top finishes on the day with a sixth-place showing in the high jump by judges decision after clearing a height of 6' 0.75".
The men's track and field team will conclude the Gina Relays tomorrow (Saturday, Apr. 24) with competition scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at Hillsdale College.