WAVERLY, Iowa – Two school records were set as well as four personal bests as the Trine University men's and women's track and field teams tried to place student-athletes into the NCAA DIII Indoor National Championships by competing at the Last Chance Meet at Wartburg College.
The Thunder saw Ryan Hoopingarner break the school record mark in the 3000-meter run at 8:36.44 and teammate Drew Sillaway also would have surpassed the school record mark but must settle for a new personal best only at 8:38.09.
The other school record mark belonged to Mackenzie Miller, who surpassed her own best mark in the 60-meter dash at 7.81 seconds during the prelims of the event on Saturday. She would run a 7.85 in the event finals and tally a score of 5.42 meters (17' 9.50") in the long jump.
Zion Jackson competed in two events at Wartburg. He completed the 60-meter hurdles at 8.44 seconds in the prelims and 8.52 seconds in the event finals. Jackson was in action in the long jump as well with a score of 6.80 meters (54' 0.00").
In the weight throw, Kimball Hughes secured the program's final personal best mark at 16.46 meters (54' 0.00"). Other scorers for Trine included Philip Nemechek in the 800-meter run (1:57.07), Matthew Edison in the 5000-meter run (16:16.20) and Bailey Puckett in the mile run (5:07.80).
Competing in the heptathlon, Ethan Spahr scored 4807 points for the third-most at the Last Chance Meet. Morgan Johnson was sixth at 4461 points.
The 2024 NCAA Division III men's and women's indoor track and field championships begin when selections are released on NCAA.com on the evening of Sunday, March 3. The student-athletes will then compete from Friday, March 8 through Saturday, March 9 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia, hosted by Norfolk State University.