ALLENDALE, MICH. -- The Trine University men's indoor track & field team competed in the unscored Mike Lints Alumni Open hosted by Grand Valley State (Mich.) University in Allendale, Mich.
On the track, sophomore Josh Davis (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) and junior Derek Miller (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview) highlighted the afternoon with runner-up finishes in their respective events. Davis qualified for the finals of the 60-meter dash and improved by six one-hundredths of a second over his time in the preliminaries to come away with a finals mark of 7.01 seconds to place second overall. Miller was one of three Thunder runners to finish in the top five in the 5000-meter run with a team-best mark of 14:52.21 to place as the runner-up among the field.
Joining Miller in the top five in the 5000m was senior Vilis Vuskalns (Indianapolis, Ind./Beech Grove) who placed third in a time of 14:56.00 and junior Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) who was fourth after running a time of 14:56.54.
Freshman Jake Gladieux (Oregon, Ohio/Whitmer) had a top-five effort in the 60-meter hurdles after qualifying for the finals where he posted a mark of 8.42 seconds to finish fourth, a 13 one-hundreths of a second improvement from his preliminary time (8.55 seconds).
In the 200-meter dash, Trine had four top-15 times led by freshman Ben Williams (Farmington Hills, Mich./Harrison) who was 11th overall after crossing the finish line in a time of 22.72 seconds. Senior Jacob Root (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) was 12th in a time of 22.76 seconds and Davis was 13th in a time of 22.82 seconds. Gladieux rounded out the top finishes with a mark of 22.93 seconds to place 15th.
In addition, Trine had a top-10 showing the 4x400-meter relay with the team of Gladieux, Williams, Root and freshman Connor Kissinger (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) who recorded a combined time of 3:28.25 in the event to rank as the eighth quickest time.
Off the track, Williams recorded the top overall finish in the field events which came in the long jump where he leaped 21' 8.25" to put him in fifth place overall. Teammate and freshman Omar Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) also placed in the top 10 in eighth place after a best distance of 20' 11.25"
Junior Nicolas Kane (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) placed 12th to lead the Trine throwers in the shot put with a distance of 44' 8.00." Senior Skyler Dunckley (Cedar, Mich./Traverse City West) also competed in the event and was eight overall after posting a mark of 20' 11.25."
Senior Mitchell Martin (Bowling Green, Ohio) and Kane both competed in the weight throw. Martin had the top finish for the Thunder of seventh place following a toss of 51' 10.50" and Kane had the 13th-best throw of 44' 4.25."
Trine is scheduled to compete at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich. at the two-day Wide Track Classic next weekend (Fri-Saturday, Feb. 7-8). The first events on Friday are set to begin at noon.