Trojan Men Take Fifth at Outdoor CL Championships
MARION, Ind. – The Taylor men's outdoor track and field team wrapped up the Crossroads League Championships on Friday in fifth place out of the 10 league teams with 66 points.
Marian took home the team title with 269 points, while Indiana Wesleyan and Mount Vernon Nazarene finished second and third, respectively.
Nate Conkel hit TU's lone individual NAIA A standard of the meet with his time of 1:51.83 in the 800 meters, good for fourth out of 35 competitors.
Braden Bixler took third place out of 22 in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.09 seconds. That time hit the B standard and easily eclipsed TU's previous top mark of the season and his own personal-best time.
Jared Stayte claimed the final NAIA B standard for Taylor by clocking a 9:28.13 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Stayte ended seventh out of 19 finishers in the event.
Nathan Burns grabbed a top-three finish in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:51.89. Teammates Luke Harber, Alex Ortiz and Ryan Hanak also claimed top-10 times in the 5,000 meters.
Running in the 400 meters, Bradley Braxton took seventh of 25 runners with a time of 50.53 seconds to steal a couple points for the Trojans. Joel Mumaw also contributed to the team tally by taking eighth out of 30 competitors in the 1,500 meters with his time of 3:58.57.
The outdoor season continues for Taylor on May 10 and 11 at the Last Chance Invite at the University of Saint Francis (Illinois).