NAPERVILLE, Ill. – At the Snow Day Invite hosted by North Central College, the Trine University men's track and field program placed second out of six schools overall.
Jake Gladieux [Oregon, Ohio / Whitmer] once again continued to build upon his impressive spring indoor season by breaking his own 60-meter hurdle record with an 8.18 second time, good for second place. In the 60-meter dash event, four Trine athletes scored points in spots 3-6, including Josh Davis [Sterling Heights, Mich. / Sterling Heights], Danny Vinson [Berrien Springs, Mich. / Berrien Springs], Ben Williams [Farmington Hills, Mich. / Harrison] and William Thonn [Rochester, Ind. / Rochester].
Williams also was a first-place finisher in the 200-meter run at 22.83 seconds. Gladieux and Ryan Smith [Peru, Ind. / Peru] were top performers in the 400-meter run. Gladieux completed the race with a time of 50.88, good for fourth-place and Smith finished seventh at 53.22.
In the 800-meter run, it was Noah Ballard [Tipp City, Ohio / Tippecanoe] and Aidan Lapp [South Bend, Ind. / Riley] scoring points. Ballard was fifth at 2:02.28 (new personal best) and Lapp seventh with a 2:03.43. Freshman Gehrig Longe [Birmingham, Mich. / Seaholm] carried the torch for the Trine in the mile run with a fourth-place effort (4:33.74). Joseph Packard [Kokomo, Ind. / Western] led a group of four Thunder athletes in 5-8 place in the 3,000-meter run. Packard finished with a time of 9:04.80.
Greysen Spohn [Peru, Ind. / Peru] highlighted field events for Trine with a second-place finish in the high jump at 1.94 meters (6' 4.25"). That mark is just off the school record. The Thunder also got a second-place finish from Williams in the long jump with a leap of 6.78 meters (22' 3"). Senior Noah McClellan [Schererville, Ind. / Lake Central] completed the trifecta of jumps events with a third-place triple jump of 12.60 meters (41' 4.25").
Trine secured fourth-place finishes from Alexander Lewis [LaPorte, Ind. / LaPorte] in the weight throw with a score of 14.61 meters (47' 11.25) and Travis Dowling [Swayzee, Ind. / Oak Hill] in the shot put at 13.68 meters (44' 10.75"). Freshman Blake Lude [Auburn, Ind. / Dekalb] was seventh in the pole vault with a height of 3.66 (12' 0").
The Thunder's 4x400 relay team was second overall with a time of 3:32.86. Ty Hoover [Monticello, Ind. / Twin Lakes], Blane Johnson [Allegan, Mich. / Allegan Senior], Patrick Boulay [Noblesville, Ind. / Kaiserslautern American] and Ryan Smith made up the runner-up squad.
The Trine track and field programs will enter a variety of events on Saturday, January 29, including the Joe Banks Invitational, Steemer Showcase and Indiana Relays.
