Trojans Take Second at 2019 Crossroads League Championships
MARION, Ind. – The Taylor men's track and field team took second place at this year's Crossroads League Championships behind six event titles and 14 all-league performances. TU jumped from fifth place to second on the second and final day of action.
All six of Taylor's event championships came on Friday. Caleb Anthony had a busy and productive day by winning two individual events and helping the TU men's 4x400-meter relay to the title. Anthony's day started with a win in the men's 110-meter high hurdles with a NAIA 'B' standard time of 14.81 seconds. He followed up with another top finish in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking in another NAIA 'B' standard time of 54.22 seconds. In the final event of the meet, Anthony teamed up with Matt Sakeuh, Collen Cramer and Darryl Robinson to win the men's 4x4 with a time of 3:18.57.
The Trojans' other three event championships were captured in the mid and long-distance races. It was Daniel Gerber who led the pack in the 1,500-meter race. Gerber won the event with a time of 4:02.38. Right behind Gerber were teammates Ben Byrd and Derek Van Prooyen who crossed the finish line in second and fifth place, respectively. Byrd's runner-up finish earns him all-league honors. TU also found great success in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, placing four in the top-six finishers. Hunter Smith earned the title with a NAIA 'A' standard run of 9:23.99, his best run of the 2019 outdoor season. Taylor's scoring in the event was rounded out by a third-place finish and all-league performance by Connor White as well as a fourth and sixth-place finish by Zach Hoekstra and Sam Hardy.
TU's final Crossroads League event champion was Josh Roth who won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:02.36. Roth and Smith went for first and second in the event, which gave both runners all-league distinction.
Also earning All-Crossroads League honors for their top-three finishes were Sakeuh and Robinson in the men's 400-meter run and Lewis in the 800-meter run.
The Taylor men will do their final prep before the NAIA national championships at North Central College on Thursday, May 9th and Friday, May 10th.