Men's Track and Field Takes Fourth at First Chance Invite

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Carthage College men's track and field team continued their outdoor season with a fourth place finish at North Central College's First Chance Invitational on Friday evening.

1) U. of Chicago - 172
2) North Central (Ill.) - 159
3) Lewis - 106.50
4) Carthage - 91
5) Wheaton (Ill.) - 75
6) Harper College - 38
7) Aurora - 37
8) Benedictine (Ill.) - 35.50
9) Joliet Junior College - 14
10) North Park - 6
11) Illinois Tech - 1

4x400m relay (Joe Balas, Armen Jerikian, Chase Upmann, Michael Barber) - 1st (3:29.82)
Joseph White - 1st - shot put (17.66m)
- 1st - hammer throw (55.71m)

Chase Upmann - 4th - 1,500m run (3:57.18)
Mac Anderson - 5th - 100m run (11.09)
Trevor Swanson - 4th - 1,000m run (32:28.60)
Ben Jensen - 4th - long jump (6.39m)
Alex Jarvis - 2nd - triple jump (13.61m)
Lucas Leal - 2nd - hammer throw (55.71m)
Joseph White - 2nd - hammer throw (60.85m)*
- 2nd - shot put (17.33m)*

*Competed at Fighting Illini Challenge on Saturday

"We had a strong last couple of days of track & field, with some important progress made among all our event groups.

I felt we took a lot of positive steps with our distance group this week. Cameron Fischer and Topher Davis had strong season openers in the steeple chase despite the race being their first opportunity at a water barrier this season. In the 10K, Trevor Swanson and Ethan Walker worked together well to run strong season openers with a big negative split on the back half. This was particularly impressive for Trevor, being it was his college 10K debut. I thought we had a lot of great efforts in the 1500m, which was highlighted by Chase Upmann's 3:57.18. This was a pretty big PR for Chase and moved him to 7th on the Carthage All-Time List. Chase also returned to anchor the winning 4x400m relay with an impressive 50.17 anchor split.

In the throws, Joseph White and Lucas Leal went 1-2 in the hammer throw. Nick Huff also took a nice step in the hammer, while Renz Lies threw a pretty big lifetime best. In the shot put, Joseph took a nice step forward from his performance at Carroll last week. His mark of 17.66m extended his early lead on the Division III National Leaderboard. Alex Pitrone continued his strong start to the outdoor season with a fourth place finish and another throw near the 15-meter mark. In the Javelin, Mason DeLille had a pretty strong toss of 46.03m, and Jacob Brost took a nice step forward with a 42.68-meter throw. Joseph followed up Friday's performance with a pair of 2nd place finishes at the Fighting Illini Challenge at the University of Illinois today. Taking on exclusively Division I competition, Joseph threw a personal best in the hammer of 60.85m. This moves him up to second on the Carthage All-Time list. He also followed up Friday's shot performance with a strong series at U of I. His best mark was a strong 17.33 meters.

In the sprints/jumps, Alex Jarvis had a strong outdoor season debut in the triple jump with a mark of 13.61 meters. His performance currently ranks in the top 50 in Division III. Ben Jensen also had a strong day on the runway with a huge PR in the long jump. Ben's jump of 6.39m was good enough for 4th place and a lifetime best of nearly a full foot. Joe Balas, Armen Jerikian, and Michael Barber joined Chase on the track for the winning 4x400m relay performance. Also impressive in the relays was Ethan Meyer on the 'B' team relay. Seeing him look strong is encouraging, as we missed him for most of the indoor season due to injury. His return to the track is a welcome one!

Overall, the last week has been a challenging one for the team. Two meets in a five-day span (3 in 6 days for Joseph) is a lot. Coupled with a few hard workout sessions over the past week with few opportunities for recovery, the team is due for a little downtime. I am sure this year's Easter Break is very welcome for the team.

We look forward to having some extra time to recover and shifting gears in training our focus this coming week before next Saturday's meet at Wheaton."

Up next, the team heads to the Wheaton (Ill.) Invite on Saturday, April 15.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Mac Anderson: Sprints; 5' 9"; Junior

Joe Balas: Mid-Distance; 6' 2"; Junior

Michael Barber: Distance; 5' 10"; Junior

Topher Davis: Distance; 5' 8"; Junior

Mason DeLille: Jumps; Senior

Cameron Fischer: Distance; Senior

Nick Huff: Throws; Senior

Alex Jarvis: Jumps; Senior

Ben Jensen: Jumps/Sprints; 6' 2"; Junior

Lucas Leal: Throws; 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Mac Anderson
: 5' 9"; Junior
: Sprints

Joe Balas
: 6' 2"; Junior
: Mid-Distance

Michael Barber
: 5' 10"; Junior
: Distance

Topher Davis
: 5' 8"; Junior
: Distance

Mason DeLille
: Senior
: Jumps

Cameron Fischer
: Senior
: Distance

Nick Huff
: Senior
: Throws

Alex Jarvis
: Senior
: Jumps

Ben Jensen
: 6' 2"; Junior
: Jumps/Sprints

Lucas Leal
: 6' 0"; Junior
: Throws