Trojans Look Sharp in Crossroads League Tune Up
MARION, Ind. – In the final event prior to next weekend's Crossroads League Indoor Track and Field Championships the Taylor men's track and field team proved it will be a contender with numerous strong performances at the IWU Midwest Classic on Saturday.
Taylor's 4x800-meter relay team turned in one of the most impressive performances of the day for the Trojans as the quartet of Alec DeVries, Shauntis Lewis, Andrew Runion, and Ben Byrd clocked an NAIA A standard time of 7:51.83.
Sophomore Jonathan DeHaan collected a victory of his own in the pole vault with an NAIA A standard mark of 4.80 meters.
Joe Beamish led a foursome of Trojans who finished in the top eight of the 3,000-meters as the senior hit the NAIA B standard with a winning time of 8:41.95. Sophomore Hunter Smith added a fourth place finish with a time of 8:57.11 followed by freshman Josh Roth in seventh place with a time of 9:01.11 and senior Jonathan Taylor in eighth place at 9:04.37.
Freshman Marcus Gross added a second place finish in the high jump with an NAIA B standard mark of 1.98 meters.
Sophomore Heelak Lee posted a victory in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.01 while sophomore Coty Willis was third at 7.09 and junior Sam Lacher was fifth at 7.23.
DeVries and Byrd claimed the top two spots in the 1,000-meters with DeVries posting a time of 2:33.85 followed closely by Byrd at 2:33.98.
The Trojans collected three of the top four spots in the 5,000-meters with sophomore Landry Long finishing in second place with a time of 17:18.28 followed by Sam Hardy in third place at 17:44.96 and Reid Otto in fourth place at 17:57.71.
Darryl Robinson tallied a fifth place finish in the 400-meters with a time of 51.95.
Sophomore standout Caleb Anthony turned in a third place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.39. Anthony posted an NAIA A standard time of 8.19 in the prelims of the event.
Anthony teamed up with Collen Cramer, Ferguson, and Robinson to collected a fourth place finish in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:32.29.
Sophomore Drew LeFever added a fourth place finish in the shot put with a mark of 14.41 meters and added a tenth place finish in the weight throw with a mark of 13.28 meters.
The Trojans will compete in the first-ever Crossroads League Indoor Track and Field Championships next weekend with competition beginning on Friday, Feb. 9 and continuing on Saturday, Feb. 10.