Trojans Compete at Huntington Invite

HUNTINGTON, Ind. – On a windy Thursday before Easter weekend, a handful of athletes on the Taylor men's track and field team traveled to Huntington, Indiana to participate in the Huntington Invitational. The Trojans competed well, as they took home two first-place finishes and six top-five performances.

Taylor's jumpers added first and second-place finishes in the high jump and long jump. Jake Thompson cleared a height of 1.90-meters to claim the victory in the high jump, while Sammy Sommers soared to a season-PR of 6.58-meters in the long jump, placing second overall.

Liam Hesting had strong performances in the throwing events. The junior launched the hammer 54.55-meters to take first place in the hammer throw. Hesting turned in a second-place finish in the shot put, recording a mark of 14.56-meters, and a second-place finish in the discus throw, claiming a distance of 40.94-meters.

Three Trojans competed in the open 400-meter dash. Cole Whitehead finished in second place as he cruised to a time of 52.64. Nate Conkel placed eighth overall with a time of 56.15 and Bennett Hill grabbed 12th place, crossing the line at 57.60. Whitehead later went on to finish fifth in the 200-meter dash, logging a time of 23.16.

In the mid-distance races, Nathan Brainer and James Bates finished fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the 800-meters. Brainer posted a time of 2:02.34 and Bates ended in 2:03.22. Matthew Roach clocked a time of 4:47.41 in the 1,500-meters and claimed 18th place overall.

Caleb Ranzau claimed a fourth-place finish in the pole vault. The freshman cleared a height of 4.00-meters.

The Trojans will be back in action on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23 for the Little State Championships hosted by Indiana Wesleyan.