The men’s track and field team hit the outdoor season in full stride on April 3 at the Hamline Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. The meet was unscored but pro- vided an opportunity for the team to gain footing before moving on to later meets in the outdoor season.
Brian Klein ’16 and Henry Burt ’16 opened up the meet in the 5-kilometer race, with Klein finishing with a time of 16:25.16 and Burt with a time of 16:38.18. Dan Buchmeier ’19 closed out the dis- tance events with a time of 10:35.71 in the 3000-meter steeplechase.
Paul Escher ’16 led the Oles in the middle distance events, finishing third in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:55.43. Austin Redfield ’16 and Ryan Van Mechelen ’16 also competed in the 800-meter race, finishing with close times of 2:02.57 and 2:02.49 respectively. Paul Timm ’18 led the Oles in the mile race, winning the second heat with a time of 4:07.13.
Kevin Skrip ’16 and Joe Pugh ’18 placed fourth and 12th in the 400-meter dash, with Skrip running a 49.52 and Pugh coming to the finish line with a time of 51.41. Logan Weiss ’19 won his heat in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.50, plac- ing him in 12th overall. Robby Holmes ’18 closed out the sprint events, finishing with a final time of 59.13 in the 400-meter hurdles.
In the field events, Chris Frick ’19 jumped a distance of 5.94 meters in the long jump, while Nathan Kurtz-Enko ’19 and Nick Woods ’17 placed 11th and 12th in the shot put with distances of 13.92 meters and 13.80 meters respectively.
The Oles look to improve on a stellar cross country and indoor track and field season, with their success granting them a tie for second place in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Program of the Year award standings. The award honors
the most successful programs in the 2015- 16 Division III cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field seasons. The men’s next competition will be the Ashton May Invitational, held at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse on Saturday, April 9.
