NEW ORLEANS, La.-- The Trine men's track and field team is ranked sixth in the Great Lakes Region in the first USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings, released Tuesday.
The Thunder boast eight performances that rank among the 10 best in the Region. Scores in the National Team Computer Rankings were determined by the USTFCCCA computers using preseason event rankings that include the top marks of the recent NCAA indoor track and field seasons by returning student-athletes and the top marks of the 2016 campaign. The closer a student-athlete is to the top of his or her event rankings, the more points he or she earns towards the team total. Points from all applicable student-athletes are added up to determine team scores.
Leading Trine's performers in field events is Sam Gilly (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden), who tops the region in the weight throw. The senior's top throw of 57 feet, 9 inches in the season-opening Trine Conditioner ranks fifth in the nation. He set a new school record with the throw.
Jacob Leopold (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) paced the Thunder on the track with the top regional performance thus far in the 800-meter run. Leopold ran a time of 1:56.74 in the event at Saturday's Indiana Wesleyan Invitational. The junior's time ranks seventh in the nation.
Zach Markley's (Winamac, Ind./Winamac) 400-meter run time of 50.84 seconds currently ranks fourth in the region. Markley, Leopold, Jasper Bassett (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) and Patrick Richardville (Leo, Ind./Leo) make up a 4-x-400-meter relay team that ranks sixth in the Great Lakes Region.
Freshman Will Collins (Marion, Ind./Marion) rounds out Trine's top-10 regional performers on the track. Collins ran the fifth-best 60-meter dash time in the region in the Trine Conditioner.
Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio/Fremont-Ross) and Logan Lindsley (Battle Creek, Mich./Quincy) make up the only Trine duo to be regionally ranked in the same event. Barnett is fourth in the region in the Long Jump, while Lindsley ranks sixth. Barnett's school-record jump of 22 feet, 3.75 inches is the 22nd-best in the nation.
Click Here for USTFCCCA Regional Rankings.
Trine will host the Don and Riley Zimmer Indoor Classic this Friday, Jan. 29 in Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Athletic Recreation Center. Both Thunder teams will honor their senior classes prior to the meet. Events are slated to begin at 5 p.m.