Men's Track and Field Adds Four New National Qualifiers

Men's Track and Field competed at the Concordia Invite on Friday in their final meet prior to the GPAC conference meet. The Tigers added four new NAIA national qualifiers in the meet.

In the field events, Vince Lauenroth won the triple jump with a mark of 14.40m (47-03.00) and Trevor Malone placed second with a mark of 14.35m (47-01.00). Both marks meet the NAIA automatic qualifying standard with Lauenroth sitting 14th and Malone 19th in the NAIA. In the long jump, Addison Croghan placed third with a mark of 6.69m (21-11.50).

Colton Dillon placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 15.77m (51-09.00), meeting the NAIA automatic qualifying standard and moving into 23rd nationally. Trey Dickey and Andrew Schmitz met the automatic qualifying standard in the weight throw. Dickey won with a toss of 18.03m (59-02.00) and Schmitz was second with a mark of 17.33m (56-10.25).

In the high jump, Peyton Herrick placed third with a height of 1.92m (6-03.50). Mike Pulliam placed second in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.65m (15-03.00), meeting the provisional qualifying standard.

On the track, JaDae Moore won the 60m dash with a time of 6.92. Connor Bradley won the 200m with a time of 22.56. In the 400m, Jonathan Zoubek ran a time of 53.30 to place sixth.

Emmanuel Yego met the NAIA provisional qualifying standard in the 600m with a time of 1:22.78. Eli Marez placed third in the 800m with a time of 2:00.02. Michael Grigsby took second in the 1000m with a time of 2:33.21.

In the mile run, Nelson Ruto placed second with a time of 4:28.60. Duncan Blankenship placed fifth in the 3000m with a time of 9:17.40. Zach Turner won the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.94, meeting the automatic qualifying standard.

The 4x400m relay team of Joaquin Gutierrez, Zach Fox, Chris Vincent, and Turner hit the NAIA automatic qualifying standard with a time of 3:20.95. The converted track time is 3:17.80, ninth best in the nation this year.

The GPAC Championships are next for the Tigers on February 16-17 in Yankton, S.D.