Men’s indoor track and field team has four champs, ties for second-place at MIAA Championships

ANGOLA, Ind. – The Olivet College men's indoor track and field team had three individual event winners and one relay win en route to a tie for second-place at the 2021 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships. Trine (Ind.) University hosted the championships inside the Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Athletic and Recreation Center. The Comets totaled 101 points to share second-place with Hope College. The second-place finish is the best in school history at the MIAA Indoor Championships.

• Entering the last event, 4x400-meter relay, the Comets trailed Hope by two points in the team standings. Olivet's team of sophomore William Reed, senior Tyler Peck, sophomore Jordon Brown and junior Kyle McDowell won the race in 3:23.79 to score 10 team points, with the Flying Dutch taking second and scoring eight team points.
• McDowell paced a 1-2-5 Comet finish in the 400-meter dash. His winning time of 49.57 seconds broke the school indoor record. Brown was second at a personal-best time of 49.90 seconds, and Peck was fifth at 51.52 seconds.
• Sophomore Denver Orlando won the pole vault, as he cleared the bar at 13 feet, 5-1/4 inches.
• Sophomore Jordon Butler leaped 22 feet, 2-1/4 inches to win the long jump. He also placed second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.62 seconds. During the prelims, Butler ran a season-best time of 8.59 seconds.
• The distance medley quartet of sophomore Chase Mendham, Peck, junior Dustin Rutter and freshman Hayden Germain finished second in 10:41.75.
• Senior Jacob Smith was the runner-up in the shot put with a school-record mark of 53 feet, 8-1/2 inches. He bested his own school record by 1/4 inch.
• Sophomore Elijah Lewis finished fourth in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 42 feet, 4-1/4 inches. He also placed sixth in the long jump (20 feet, 3-1/2 inches).
• Olivet placed three runners in the finals of the 60-meter dash. Sophomore William Reed had the best finish, placing fifth in 7.17 seconds. During the prelims, he ran a career-best time of 7.10 seconds. Butler was sixth in 7.25 seconds, followed by freshman Charles Miller in seventh at 7.30 seconds.
• Germain completed the 800-meter run in a season-best time of 2:00.30 to finish in fifth-place.
• Junior Byron Pearce and junior Bradley Hawkins placed seventh and eighth, respectively in the weight throw. Their marks were 47 feet, 7-3/4 inches and 47 feet, 5-1/4 inches.
• Reed was eighth in the 200-meter dash (23.50).

Due to the cancellation of the 2021 NCAA Division III winter championships cancelled, Wartburg (Iowa) College is hosting the 2021 Division III Elite Indoor Championships next Friday-Saturday, March 12-13 at Hoover Fieldhouse in Waverly, Iowa. The top-16 individual and top-12 relay performances, according to TFRRRS.org will be invited to compete in the meet.