WAUKESHA, Wis. — Scoring nearly 200 total team points, the Carthage men's track and field team took first place at their opening meet of the outdoor season on Sunday, winning the Pioneer Open at the Dennis Punches Track and Field Complex.

After setting a handful of personal bests today, the Firebirds will look to continue to improve as the outdoor season gets going, as they're scheduled to compete at the WLU Warrior Invitational next on Thursday, April 14.

Head Coach Josh Henry

"I don't know if I've ever appreciated a 50 degree day as much as I did today after having our first two meets of the season canceled due to weather. I think based on our performances today, the team was equally as excited for the opportunity. We put together a lot of solid performances in all event areas, truly showcasing the team's versatility."

"The sprints started the day off with a pretty strong showing in the 4x100 meter relay with the team of Alonzo Paul, Tre' Mitchell, Ben Jensen, and Mac Anderson. Their time of 43.44 is pretty encouraging, especially considering we have a lot of room to improve on with our exchanges. Mac and Alonzo followed up the 4x1 by both qualifying for the 100m finals, running strong early season times. Tre' followed his leg on the relay with a nice showing in the 200m."
 
"There were two breakthrough performances in the jumps today with Nnameka's big PR in the long jump and Lucas's big PR in the high jump. Both guys started those events for the first time this winter and have shown a lot of growth over the last month. We suspected they were capable of big improvements based on how they have looked in practice, so getting it done in their first outdoor meet today was really exciting to see."
 
"The highlight of the day for distance was probably Micah and Ethan in the 5,000m. It was fairly windy today and they ran strong and looked in control the whole race. They both will be moving up to 10,000m soon, so seeing them look this in control for 5,000m today was very encouraging."
 
"In the throws, we had a pretty good day in the hammer. Matt threw just under his NCAA qualifying mark last year and Joseph threw a personal best.  Both will rank highly on the national list this week but will look to improve upon those marks to lock up an NCAA qualification. Lucas also threw great in the hammer with nearly a 7 meter personal best. He is a guy who has worked really hard since getting to campus as a freshman last year and seeing him improve at this rate is really exciting and well deserved."
 
"We're looking forward to competing on a short week with our meet at Wisconsin Lutheran this Thursday before heading into Easter Break."  

Highlights

• Beginning the day on the track was the 4x100-meter relay team of Alonzo Paul, Tre Mitchell III, Ben Jensen, and Granville Anderson, who claimed first place with a time of 43.44 seconds.
• Cameron Fischer took second place in the 3000-meter steeplechase after nearly matching his PR, posting a mark of 9:54.66.
• Nnaemeka Obinna set a new PR in the long jump, placing second among collegiate athletes with a mark of 6.42 meters on his fourth attempt.
• Justin Gatunzi set a new personal best in the 400 hurdles today, placing fourth with a time of 1:00.29.
• Mitchell III competed in his first collegiate 200-meter dash outdoors today, taking third place and finishing first among collegiate athletes with a time of 22.98 seconds.
• Micah Anderson and Ethan Walker took second and third, respectively, in the 
• Adam Kedzior, Joe Balas, Alex Jarvis, and Nicholas Kania took second in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:34.36.
• Matthew Ausse got off to a great start in the hammer throw today, taking first place with a mark of 55.93 meters. Joseph White finished second right behind him, setting a new PR with a throw of 54.30 meters.
• After qualifying for last season's NCAA Championship meet in the discus as a freshman, White took second place today in the event with a mark of 45.51 to begin the year.
• Competing in his first career outdoor meet, Jarvis won the triple jump with a mark of 13.36 meters on his final attempt.

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