The men's team traveled to the Gregory Invitational on Friday May 21 at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. As the last chance of earning a qualifying mark for the NCAA Division III National Championships, there were many fast and physical races.
Sophomore Drew Clark ran a very poised and gutsy race, coming through the first lap at 61 seconds. At midpoint in his race, he had run his first 800 meters in 2 minutes 4 seconds. Even at this fast clip, Clark was in the middle of the pack working his way up to the leader, making his move with 300 meters remaining, finishing in second place with a new personal record of 3:52.02. Sitting as the nineteenth best outdoor miler in the nation, Clark narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Championship meet by a mere fifteen-hundredths of a second.
Freshmen Jake Meier and Sam Nickell ran in separate heats of the 800-meter runs. Meier was shoved a few times in a tightly packed race, finding himself slightly out of his rhythm, to finish with a time of 1:59.41. Nickell ran a great race, setting a new collegiate personal record of 2:01.37. Nickell ran nearly even splits as he came through the first lap in 60 seconds and finished in approximately 61 seconds for his second lap.
One of the very last events run at the meet was the 3000-meter steeplechase. Senior Justin Sinichko shaved almost ten seconds from last race. Running free and fast, Sinichko closed in on the field earlier than he has before, finishing in a time of 9:45.42, putting him at third on the All-Time Top-Ten list for Principia men's track and field in the steeplechase.
Two long seasons of track and field action have concluded with season bests and lifetime bests from many on the team. On behalf of the coaches and athletes, we would like to thank family, fans and friends for the support this season.