BISMARCK, ND – In the first home outdoor meet in five years for the University of Mary men's track & field team, the Marauders showcased their abilities with impressive performances across the boards at the Al Bortke Open. Behind the power of two event titles and 18 top-5 finishes, UMary finished second out of seven teams in the overall points standings.
The Marauders generated 130.5 team points. NCAA Division I North Dakota State University placed first with 180.5. Fellow Northern Sun member MSU Moorhead was third with 129.
Showing his Northern Sun championship form from last spring,
Isaac Huntington won the 400 meter dash for the Marauders. Huntington crushed the MDU Resources Community Bowl track in a time of 48.89 seconds to win the 400 by .44 seconds.
In the longest race of the day,
Caleb Yokom placed first in the 10,000 meter run. The freshman was clocked in a winning time of 33:42.89.
Astley Davis led a strong effort in the 100 meter dash for UMary. The sophomore claimed second in a strong field with a time of 10.76 seconds.
Drew Olson placed fourth in 10.85 seconds with
Akil Howell taking 6
th in 10.89 seconds.
Howell also had a strong performance in the 200, placing fourth in 21.90 seconds.
Hayden Von Wald exploded for an effort of 6.73 meters in the long jump to earn him second place.
Peyton Zahler placed fifth for the Marauders with a mark of 6.42 meters.
Isaac Watson and
Dillan Kovash placed 3-4 in the pole vault. Watson cleared 4.32 meters for his best mark of the day. Kovash topped out at 4.32 meters.
Guillermo Fregoso and
Timothy Moore both finished in the top five of the 1500 meter run for UMary. Fregoso placed third in 4:03.86 and Moore claimed fifth (4:06.80).
In the 5000 meter run, UMary had the top three collegiate finishers.
Isaac Anderson was second overall to an unattached runner with a time of 16:16.88.
Ian Sande was third (16:21.75) and
Alex Garber finished fourth (16:44.61).
Akil Howell,
Isaiah Richards,
Jorgen Paulson and
Drew Olson combined forces to run the 4x100 meter relay in 42.03 seconds to place second.
Jesse Hatler and
Aaron Davis placed fourth and fifth respectively in the triple jump. Hatler posted a top mark of 13.28 meters and Davis sailed 13.06 meters.
Davis had an even bigger day in the javelin. The junior uncorked a throw of 49.07 meters to place third.
"Today was a special day performing at home during an outdoor season for the first time in five years," said Marauders interim head track & field coach
Cale Korbelik. "The weather came through and the performances showed. I was extremely impressed with our team's overall performance with the women winning their side of the meet and the men finishing as the runner-up. There was great competition to push so many athletes to lifetime personal bests.
"On the track we did ran much better than expected to grab national qualifying times and be tops in the conference around this time of year. In the field we had many personal bests and a couple national marks to put us in a great spot moving forward. I knew our team was ready to have a special day going into this week with the energy and excitement of the event.
"Thank you to everyone who volunteered for the meet and made it happen. We could not of done it without our alumni and supporters."
The Marauders next are schedule to compete at the Bryan Clay Invite, the Mt. SAC Relays and the Beach Invitational in California between April 14-16 and the Blue Hawk Games in Dickinson, ND, on April 15.
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