ANGOLA, Ind.-- Several Trine track and field performers rank among the nation's best and are in the hunt to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championships in March.
Reigning Indoor All-American Trisha King (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) boasts the nation's top qualifying time to date in the 800 M. The senior topped a field of Division II and NAIA runners this past weekend at the Hillsdale Wide Track Classic with a time of 2:13.30. That time is four seconds better than her pace at this time last season. King placed fifth in the nation at last year's National Championships in Lincoln, Neb.
Not far behind in ranking among the nation's elite is Trine's second reigning All-American, Tyler Bourdo (Plainwell, Mich./Delton-Kellogg), who ranks third in the nation in the 400 M. The senior ran his top mark this season of 49.19 seconds this past weekend at the Hillsdale Wide Track Classic. Bourdo placed fifth in the nation in last season's National Championship race. He also earned Outdoor All-American honors in the event last spring.
Bourdo, along with Luke Fimreite (McCordsville, Ind./Mount Vernon), Zach Markley (Winamac, Ind./Winamac) and Jacob Leopold (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf), make up a men's 4 x 400 relay team with the 12th-best time in the nation. The quartet of runners most-recently set a Trine indoor record with a time of 3:21.17 at the Hillsdale Wide Track Classic.
Kara Eck (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) has been a force for the Thunder this season in throwing events, ranking seventh in the nation the Weight Throw. Eck has set a new school mark multiple times in the event this season, topping out with a distance of 55 feet, 6.25 inches in the Don and Riley Zimmer Indoor Classic. Eck also ranks 25th in the nation in the Shot Put.
Andrew Bunting (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) is currently 17th in the nation in the Weight Throw, just outside the cutoff for an invite to nationals. The junior's top throw is 57 feet, two inches. John Daniel (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) top Pole Vault performance of 15 feet, one inch ranks 25th in the nation.
The top 15 individual qualifying performances and top dozen relay teams receive invites to the NCAA Division III National Championships. The national meet will be hosted by Roanoke College on the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.