OLIVET, Mich. – The Trine University men's track and field team established their dominance early as they look to secure their third consecutive Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Outdoor Championship. The team sits atop the leaderboard with 84 points through five events.
Theodore Samra highlighted the afternoon with an event win in the shot put at 15.62 meters (51' 3.00"). He becomes an MIAA champion for the first time in his career during the outdoor portion of the schedule. Teammate Alexander Lewis was second in the shot put (15.60 meters / 51' 2.25") while Kimball Hughes was fourth (14.82 meters / 48' 7.50") and Noah Chew seventh (13.81 meters / 45' 3.75").
Samra also led a trio of Thunder student-athletes in the hammer throw. He was second overall with a score of 50.34 meters (165' 2.00") while Jacob Barkey (49.74 meters / 163' 2.00") and Dillon Dennison (46.71 meters / 153' 3.00") were third and fourth. Also with a runner-up finish was Rhett Gulotta in the pole vault. He reached a height of 4.05 meters (13' 3.50").
Ben Williams and Ethan Spahr each scored points for the team in the long jump, the final men's field event contested on Thursday. Williams placed fifth at 6.73 meters (22' 1.00") and Spahr seventh at 6.57 meters (21' 6.75").
Trine had four of the eight podium spots covered in the only track event final of the day, the 10,000-meter run. Ryan Hoopingarner was the top finisher in second with a time of 32:20.33. Joseph Packard (32:22.12) and Matthew Edison (32:33.22) were third and fourth on the scoreboard while Jacob Myers tallied a seventh-place finish (32:39.62).
In preliminary track events, Jake Gladieux (110H and 400H), Greysen Spohn (110H and 100), Evan Selby (110H and 400H), Kanaan Jewett (110H), Jordan Grindle (100), Tyler Hartleroad (400) and Philip Nemechek (400) all reached the event finals for the Thunder.
The MIAA Outdoor Championships conclude on Friday afternoon at Olivet College.