Trojan Men Claim Two Individual Wins at IWU

MARION, Ind. – The Taylor men's track squad closed its first outdoor meet of the season Saturday at the IWU Polar Bear Invite and took home a pair of wins.

Headlining the day were Braden Bixler and Josh Forbes, who won their 400-meter hurdles and pole vault events, respectively.

Bixler continued his track record of leading the Trojans' 400-meter hurdlers by completing his lap in 54.64 seconds, over a second faster than the runner-up in a 17-man competition.

Forbes, a multi-time NAIA All-American pole vaulter, won the event out of a field of more than 20 competitors and cleared the NAIA B standard mark of 4.80 meters.

Joel Mumaw came within a blink of an eye from beating out a Purdue Fort Wayne runner for the title in the 1,500-meters, crossing in 4:00.75 to finish runner-up out of a whopping 89 competitors. Jared Stayte finished sixth in the event with an outdoor personal-best 4:06.20.

Senior Bradley Braxton also had a strong day for TU, taking fifth in the 400-meters out of 47 competitors, including eight Trojans. The senior's time of 50.27 seconds was over two ticks better than his closest teammate, junior Lextin Willis, who took 11th in the event.

Outside of the upperclassmen, several freshmen posted Trojan-bests in their respective events.

Quentauris Jones led a pack of Purple and Grey competing in the 100-meters with his time of 11.40 seconds, while Spencer Stout posted the team's top 110-meter hurdles time, taking sixth overall with his 15.64-second finish.

Carter Newman rounded out the leading freshmen performances by grabbing a top-10 mark in the long jump with a leap of 6.24 meters.

Taylor continues its outdoor season with the Washington Distance Carnival in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 27-28 and with the Emory Thrills in the Hills in Atlanta, Georgia on March 28-29.