Amidst cold temperatures and blowing snow, the Michigan Tech Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams competed on Saturday, April 13 at the Hillsdale Invitational in Hillsdale, Michigan.
The men’s team was able to put forward an impressive showing of events, leading them to a first place finish out of nine teams with 158 points. The Huskies were able to edge Grand Valley State by 11.5 points for the win. Meanwhile, the women’s team continues to hang in the middle of their field. They placed fifth out of nine teams with 44 points.
The depth of talent on the men’s side is evident given the numerous athletes able to contribute to the overall team score.
In sprints, Quinn Parnell demonstrated his dominance in the 100 m and 200 m dashes by placing first in both events. He won the 100 in a time of 10.88 and the 200 in 21.89. This was Parnell’s third consecutive meet this spring placing first in both events.
Once again, Nathan Saliga’s performance in the 400 m dash stood out. Saliga placed second with a time of 48.91, just 0.01 seconds behind Grand Valley’s first place finisher.
The Huskies had four runners place in the top five in the 800 m run. Dylan Anderson took first in a time of 1:56.56. Teammates Jani Lane and Benjamin Kramka tied for second after both finishing in 1:58.91. Kyle Hanson rounded off the scoring for the Huskies in the event with a fifth place finish (2:00.32).
In the 3000 m steeplechase, Bradon Kampstra and Derek Brandt earned first and second place finishes for the Huskies. Kampstra won the race by a fairly large margin in a time of 9:48.58 over Brandt’s time of 10:32.47.
The Huskies earned two first place finishes in the jumping events. Nathan Hood took first in long jump with a 22’-5.25” leap, and Jevon Maddox’s 47’-1.5” score blazed the triple jump competition by nearly a one foot margin. Maddox fell 5.5” short of the triple jump school record which he set last week at 47’-7”.
Jared Berryman and Steven Saliga stood out for the Huskies in throws. Berryman earned a pair of third place finishes in the discus throw (148’-5”) and shot put (46’-3.25”). Saliga’s 155’-10” throw earned him a second place finish in javelin.
Also noteworthy were the men’s 4×400 m relay teams’ performances. The Huskies’ ‘A’ relay squad placed second in a time of 3:25.47. Maddox led the relay followed by Shawn Shove, Dylan Anderson and Nathan Saliga. The ‘B’ relay, made up of Pat Spalding, Allen Harrison, Sam McKay and Quinn Parnell, finished fifth in 3:34.19.
The women had a greater variety of athletes contribute to the team score compared to past meets. Natalie Berryman led the Huskies with 22 points. She took first in discus with a 134’-8” throw and earned a pair of third place finishes in shot put (36’-9”) and javelin (99’-9”).
Amanda Halonen put forward one of the best performances of the day on the women’s side with a second place finish in the 5000 m run. Her time of 18:31.02 was just shy of four seconds behind Wayne State’s first place finisher.
Once again, Deedra Irwin and Melanie Hoffman placed well for the Huskies in their respective events. Irwin took fourth in the 1500 m run (4:54.86) and Hoffman placed fifth in the 100 m hurdles (16.78).
The women’s 4×400 m relay team also earned points for the Huskies with a sixth place finish. Danielle Brzezinski, Melanie Hoffman, Deedra Irwin and Elizabeth Wohlford completed the relay in 4:12.71.
Up next for the Huskies will be the Al Owens Invite in Allendale, Mich. this coming weekend. The meet will be a two day event taking place Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20.