HILLSDALE, Mich.-- The Trine men's track and field team turned in several successful performances in the Hillsdale Gina Relays, hosted by Hiilsdale College.
The top-placing performance for the Thunder came in the 4-x-100-meter relay. John Daniel (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll), Patrick Richardville (Leo, Ind./Leo), John Harris-Scott (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Wiregrass Ranch) and Tyler Bourdo (Plainwell, Mich./Delton-Kellogg) combined to run a time of 42.38 seconds. The quartet of Thunder runners finished behind a pair of teams from Division-II schools.
Jessie Dowell (Remington, Ind./Tri Junior-Senior) placed fourth in the javelin throw as the best Division-III performer in the event. The freshman came away with a throw of 161 feet, 9 inches.
Justin Dostal (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) turned in a second fourth-place finish for the Thunder in his first-ever performance in the triple jump at a meet. Dostal jumped a distance of 42 feet, 1.5 inches for the best performance by a Division-III athlete in the meet.
Dakota Bagwell (Kokomo, Ind./Western) came just shy of setting a school-record with a throw of 175 feet, 7 inches in the hammer throw. The senior's personal-best performance was two feet shy of the school record and the best Division-III performance in the meet.
Alex Hodges (Rochester Hills, Mich./Avondale) placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles in his first time competing in the event in a meet. Zach Markley (Winamac, Ind./Winamac) added a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter open, while Luke Fimreite (McCordsville, Ind./Mount Vernon) placed eighth.
Daniel notched a personal-best 11.04 seconds in the 100-meter open to place ninth. Sam Gilly (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden) added a ninth-place performance in the hammer throw.
Trine had two rather unconventional entries in the 4-x-400-meter relay as the Thunder were the only team to enter runners in the event.
Dowell and Gilly made their collegiate debuts on the track, as the throwers rounded out a relay team also consisting of Fimreite and Richardville. That combination beat out a challenge from Bourdo, Jacob Leopold (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) and throwers David Schaaf (Kokomo, Ind./Northwestern) and Brendan Haile (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard).
Trine will compete for the MIAA Championship in the event known as Field Day this Thursday and Friday, April 30-May 1.