ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's indoor track and field team captured its third Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Indoor Championship in program history and back-to-back titles today (Saturday, Mar. 6) at the Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Athletic and Recreation Center in Angola, Ind.
Trine finished with a team total of 182 points, 81 points ahead of both Hope (Mich.) College and Olivet (Mich.) College who placed in a tie for second with 101 points each.
On the track, the Thunder had a trio of event winners in the 60-meter dash, the 60-meter hurdles and the Distance Medley Relay.
Freshman Danny Vinson (Berrien Springs, Mich./Berrien Springs) was one of three Trine runners to qualify for the finals in the 60-meter dash and posted a winning time of 6.99 seconds. Teammate Josh Davis (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) also finished in the top-three in the event after running a time of 7.04 seconds to place third overall.
The Thunder had four runners advance to the finals in the 60-meter dash, led by sophomore Jake Gladieux (Oregon, Ohio/Whitmer) who posted the top overall time of 8.30 seconds, improving upon his preliminary time by eight one-hundreths of a second. Junior Greysen Spohn (Peru, Ind./Peru) finished two spots back in third place after a mark of 8.76 seconds.
In the DMR, the team of senior Noah Acker (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble), freshman Ryan Smith (Peru, Ind./Peru), junior Holden Martin (Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina Memorial) and senior Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) recorded a combined time of 10:40.69 to win the event.
Beakas also had a strong day individually with a pair of runner-up finishes in the 5000-meter run and the 3000-meter run. In the 5000m, Beakas crossed the finish line in a time of 15;04.55 and in the 3000m, Beakas ran a time of 8:42.36 to take top honors.
Also in the distance events, seniors Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) and Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, ind./Noblesville) finished back-to-back in the mile with times of 4:15.55 and 4:24.00. O'Brien's time ended up being the second quickest on the day overall and was also a Trine indoor record surpassing the mark previously set by Nick Zack of 4:17.50 which he set during the 2019 season. Neuzerling's time was good enough for third place.
O'Brien went on compete in the 800-meter run and had a time of 1:59.02 to finish in the top-three in third place.
In the 200-meter dash, sophomore William Thonn (Rochester, Ind./Rochester) placed second in a time of 23.02 seconds and was followed by Gladieux who ran a time of 23.07 seconds to rank third.
Leading the field event efforts for Trine was the duo of freshman Anthony Latin (Benton Harbor, Mich./Berrien Springs) and Gladieux in the long jump with Latin finishing as the runner-up after a best leap of 21' 7.50" and Gladieux placed third with a distance of 21' 6.75".
Junior Greysen Spohn (Peru, Ind./Peru) and junior Theodore Samra (Lansing, Mich./DeWitt) both placed third in their respective events to round out the top performances. Spohn placed third in the high jump with a best effort of 6' 4.00" and Samra was third in the weight throw thanks to a top distance of 52' 1.75".
Trine concludes the indoor season with the MIAA championships.