HILLSDALE, Mich. – The Trine University men's track and field team sent several student-athletes to the Hillsdale Tune-Up, the final event on the schedule before the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships next weekend.
In the shot put, Theodore Samra had a new personal best throw of 15.86 meters (52' 0.50") to win the event. Thunder athletes were 1-4 in the shot put, and behind him were Kimball Hughes (15.04 meters / 49' 4.25"), Noah Chew (13.57 meters / 44' 6.25") and Travis Dowling (13.32 meters / 43' 8.50"). Samra was also the top scorer for Trine in the weight throw in second (17.39 meters / 57' 0.75").
Ethan Spahr competed in the long jump (first) and high jump (sixth) for the team. Spahr went 6.36 meters (20' 10.50") in the long jump and 1.80 meters (5' 10.75") in the high jump to wrap up field events for the team.
In sprint events, Evan Straske and Patrick Zollinger led the team in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. The pair went 4-5 in the 60 and 1-2 in the 200. Straske went 7.45 seconds in the event finals and Zollinger at 7.49 seconds. The 200 saw Straske put up a time of 24.16 seconds and Zollinger secured a 24.98-second mark.
Noah Ballard led a 1-5 brigade for the Thunder in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:08.13. The mile run was led by Myron Lafty at 4:43.28, good for the second spot on the leaderboard. Behind him were Matt Hoop in fourth (4:45.26) and Ballard in fifth (4:45.88). Hunter Overholser finished ninth in the 400-meter run at 54.22 seconds.
The MIAA Indoor Championships will emanate from the Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Athletic and Recreation Center (ARC) on the campus of Trine University on Saturday, February 25 beginning at 11 a.m.