The men and women’s teams provided a spectacular performance for the home crowd, as the men’s team finished in second overall and the women’s team finished in fifth in the DePauw Invitational.
The men’s team proved their depth as 19 different members of the team contributed to the Tigers’ 149.5 points. Amongst the nineteen scorers were three first place finishers. Sophomore Zach Batt won the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:09.86, sophomore Paul Christian won the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:38.48 and first-year Kyle Munz was crowned champion of the 3,000 meter steeplechase, with a time of 10:19.55.
The three first place finishes from the distance group are especially noteworthy, as the group underwent one of their hardest weeks of training so far this season.
“We trained pretty hard this week and weren’t as fresh as we will be for large meets like the Indiana DIII Championship next week,” Christian said. “We also had some people try new events, but I’d say we had success across the board.”
The men also scored many of their points in the field events, most notably from sophomore Tyler Nemeth in the pole vault. In a competitive field for the event, Nemeth finished in fifth place after vaulting a season best 4.35 meters. Nemeth’s vault was the highest vault of any athlete in the North Coast Athletic Conference so far this season.
Junior Nate Baker scored 18 points across his three field events after collecting a pair of second place finishes in the shot put with a distance of 13.54 meters, and in the hammer throw with a distance of 46.82 meters. Baker also placed eighth in the discus as he mustered a throw of 38.83 meters.
The women’s team was led by both their sprint group and their distance group as they collected two first place finishes during the meet. First-year Haley Thompson crossed the finish line first in the 5,000 meters, after she ran the race in a time of 18:49.46. First-year Natalie Gruszka finished the event in second place after running the race in a time of 19:36.76 and first-year Tori Flowers finished the event in fourth place with a time of 19:56.40.
The distance group continued their momentum into the 1,500 meters, as two Tigers scored in the event. Senior Lois Miller finished in third place with a time of 5:03.12, and senior Becca Conley crossed the line in seventh place with a time of 5:12.81.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Daanen picked up the team’s other first place finish as she out touched Centre College’s senior Anastasia Lyon in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.70. Daanen also finished in second place in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.98. Senior Amanda Weber scored in both events as well as she collected a pair of fourth place finishes in the 100 meters and the 200 meters with times of 12.94 and 27.57 respectively.
“Kaitlyn and Amanda are really leading the charge on the women’s side,” Head Coach Kori Stoffregen said. “They’ve done a really great job this season.”
The track and field team is now preparing for the Indiana Division III Track and Field Championships, which is one of their most important regular season meets of the outdoor track and field season. The meet will have the Tigers hosting every other division III track and field program from the state of Indiana, in a competition to see which team is the best in the state.
“It’ll be great to host again next weekend,” Miller said. “It’ll be our fourth outdoor meet, so people can start getting some good performances now that they’ve had a few meets to get into things.”
The Indiana Division III Championships take place on Saturday at Blackstock Stadium. The first events will take place at 11:00 a.m..
