Trojans Turn in Four National Standards at IWU
MARION, Ind. – The Taylor men's track and field team concluded competition at the Indiana Wesleyan Invitational Saturday afternoon. The second day of the meet consisted of running events and the pole vault. The Trojans turned in a handful of successful performances, claiming three first place victories, seven top-five finishes and hit four NAIA National Standards.
Connor White raced to a dominant victory in the 3,000-meters. The senior cruised to a time of 8:31.94, beating the field by 30-seconds. With that time, White qualified for the NAIA National Championships with A-standard.
Four TU men posted top-10 finishes in the 5,000-meters. Derek Van Prooyen led the squad in second place with a time of 14:44.14. Alex Helmuth clocked a time of 14:53.74. Both Van Prooyen and Helmuth hit the automatic qualifying standard for the NAIA Indoor National Championships. Josh Harden and Nathan Holst crossed the line in eighth place and 10th place respectively. Harden finished with a time of 15:53.0 and Holst ended in 16:15.20.
Damon Knowles turned in a second-place finish in the pole vault and cleared a height of 4.65-meters. Knowles hit the NAIA B-standard and provisionally qualified for indoor nationals. Caleb Ranzau finished sixth place overall, logging a mark of 3.80-meters.
Sammy Sommers rocked a first-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. The junior posted the fastest time in prelims of 8.62, then went on to win the finals in 8.64. Sommers later raced the 200-meters and clinched a sixth-place finish with a time of 23.26.
Nate Conkel claimed a victory in the 800-meters. The sophomore posted a time of 1:57.74 to win the event.
Freshman Cole Whitehead produced a top-five finish in the 400-meter dash. Whitehead clocked a time of 52.72.
The TU men will be back in action next Saturday, January 29 on their home track for the Trojan Invite.
