ALMA, MICH. -- The Trine University men's outdoor track and field team began its quest for a possible team championship with the first-day of events of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship Meet hosted by Alma College in Alma, Mich.
After a limited number of scored events, Trine currently leads the team standings with 39 points. Olivet (Mich.) College is second at 32 points and Albion (Mich.) College is third with 27 points.
The majority of the "finals" events on day one were in the field events. Highlighting the day was a second-place finish by sophomore Ben Williams (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison) in the long jump who leapt a distance of 22' 9.00". Freshman Anthony Latin (Benton Harbor, Mich./Berrien Springs) also placed in the top-eight in the event with a mark of 21' 0.50" to place eighth overall.
The Thunder had four individuals finish in the top-eight in the hammer throw, led by junior Theodore Samra (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt) who finished third with a throw of 161' 3.00" and was followed by senior Nicholas Kane (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) who was fourth after a best toss of 152' 1.00". Additionally, junior Ben Alston (Adrian, Mich./Adrian) had the sixth-best attempt of 146' 9.00" and sophomore Jacob Barkey (Waterloo, Ind./DeKalb) was eighth at 142' 11.00".
In the pole vault, three competitors posted top finishes with junior Jon-Matthew Spaw (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) taking fifth-place after clearing the bar at a height of 12' 5.50". Senior Alex Sliter (Bryan, Ohio/Fairview) and sophomore Rhett Gulotta (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) both recorded marks of 11' 11.75" with Sliter placing sixth and Gulotta seventh by judges decison.
Rounding out the point-scoring finishes in today's field events was the duo of Samra and Kane in the shot put. Samra placed sixth overall in the event with a distance of 45' 8.00" and Kane placed two spots back in eighth at 43' 11.25".
On the track, the lone scoring race was the 10,000-meter run in which four Trine runners finished in the top-eight times. Senior Derek Miller (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview) led the group with a runner-up effort and crossed the finish line in a time of 31:32.51. The Thunder also took fifth thru seventh place with senior Harrison Korkos (Rochester, Ind./Rochester) taking fifth in a time of 31:49.75. Sophomore Jacob Myers (Kokomo, Ind./Northwestern) and junior Seth Knepper (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) finished sixth and seventh with Myers running a time of 32:02.57 and Knepper seventh in a time of 32:30.34.
A host of Trine runners qualified for the finals in several preliminary events, including sophomore Jake Gladieux (Oregon, Ohio/Whitmer) who advanced to tomorrow's finals in both the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Gladieux posted the top overall qualifying time in the 110m hurdles of 15.00 seconds and then had the second quickest prelim time of 58.08 seconds in the 400m hurdles.
Also qualifying in the 110m hurdle prelims was Greysen Spohn (Peru, Ind./Peru) who placed fourth in a time of 15.53 seconds and the duo of senior Ty Hoover (Monticello, Ind./Twin Lakes) and Spohn will join Gladieux in the 400m hurdle finals with prelim times of 59.20 seconds and 1:00.31.
Trine also had three runners advance to the finals in the 200-meter dash with Williams recording the top overall prelim time of 22.25 seconds. Senior Jacob Root (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) had the third fastest mark of 22.50 seconds and sophomore William Thonn (Rochester, Ind./Rochester) was fourth in the prelims in a time of 22.52 seconds.
Four individuals posted qualifying marks in the 100-meter dash prelims with Thonn recording the top time for Trine of 11.08 seconds which was also the second-best mark overall. Williams, Root and junior Josh Davis (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) join Thonn in the finals with times of 11.20 seconds, 11.19 seconds and 11.32 seconds, respectively.
Seniors Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) and Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) both qualified for the finals in the 800-meter run with Neuzerling finishing with the best overall prelim time of 1:56.89 and O'Brien had the third-quickest time of 1:59.94.
Completing the list of individuals who qualified for the finals was sophomore Kyran Pearson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) in the 400-meter dash prelims and placed second with a time of 50.32 seconds.
The MIAA Outdoor Championship concludes tomorrow (Friday, May 7) hosted by Alma in Alma, Mich. The day is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.