Trojans Continue Indoor Campaign at Midwest Classic
MARION, Ind. – In the final meet before competing for the 2024 Crossroads League Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Taylor men's team notched a win or a national qualifying mark in six different events at the Midwest Classic hosted by Indiana Wesleyan.
The individual wins came from Nate Conkel, Ryan Hanak and Jake Thompson in the 800, 3,000 and long jump.
Conkel and Nathan Brainer scored first and third-place finishes in the 800, with Conkel crossing with a time of 1:57.13 to top the field and Brainer taking third place at 1:59.17.
Another first and third showing came from Hanak and Joel Mumaw in the 3,000, with Hanak taking first and provisionally qualifying for NAIA Nationals at 8:37.65 and Mumaw ending third at 8:48.08.
Thompson scored another win in the long jump, this time leaping 6.91 meters to edge fellow Trojan, Isaac Elkin in second place at 6.63 meters.
Nathan Burns automatically qualified for Nationals with his second-place finish in the 5,000 and Josh Forbes turned in a season-best height of 4.95 meters in the pole vault to improve his NAIA-A standard mark.
TU's final standard came in the 4x800-relay, with the squad of James Bates, Keenan Clegg, Bryce Noble and Mumaw finishing fourth and hitting the provisional mark.
Taylor will now shift its focus to the CL Championships, hosted by Marian on February 16 and 17.