Trojans Close Regular Season at Findlay
FINDLAY, Ohio. – The Taylor men's track and field team competed in the Flag City Open at the University of Findlay. The Trojans closed out the regular season strong, as two men hit NAIA qualifying marks. TU finished second-of-four teams, tallying a total of 110 points behind Findlay with 218.
The Trojans dominated the 5,000-meters as TU runners claimed the top five spots. Sophomore Alex Helmuth led the pack with a victory and a time of 15:04.12 hitting the NAIA A-standard. Freshman Joshua Harden finished in second place at 16:09.38, followed by Nathan Holst in third at 16:46.79, Nathan Streitmatter in fourth at 16:51.21 and Cody Sonnenberg in fifth at 16:52.81.
TU's Liam Hesting turned in two solid performances in the throwing events. The freshman provisionally qualified for NAIA Nationals in the weight throw with a toss of 16.32 meters. In the shot put, Hesting placed fifth with a mark of 14.61 meters.
The Purple and Gold jumpers took first and second in the long jump, led by freshman Sammy Sommers taking first with a leap of 6.91 meters followed by Matthew Sakeuh in second at 6.79 meters.
In the mile run, Connor White led a trio of Trojans across the finish line, crossing in first place with a time of 4:29.36. Blake Montgomery took eighth at 4:40.99 and Joshua Meek finished 10th at 4:49.03.
Sophomore Matthew Sakeuh finished second in the 60-meter dash, crossing with a time of 7.14.
Taylor distance runners claimed two of the top three spots in the 3,000-meters, with Sam Hardy finishing second-place in a time of 9:29.92 and Zach Hoekstra taking third in 9:35.66.
Adam Nichols finished second in the high jump clearing 1.88-meters.
In the pole vault, freshman Damon Knowles and senior Jon DeHaan tied for third place, both clearing 4.65-meters and re-hitting the NAIA B-standard they previously hit this season. Noah Zaleski placed sixth at 4.05-meters.
The Trojans will now begin preparations for the NAIA Indoor National Championships set for March 5 -7 in Brookings, South Dakota.