Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Results
ALLENDALE, Mich. (Jan. 13, 2018) – Winning two events and placing highly in the majority of others, the North Central College men's track and field team managed a second-place finish in a highly-competitive 12-team field on Friday at Grand Valley State University's Bob Eubanks Open.
The NCAA Division III No. 10-ranked Cardinals totaled 136 points, trailing only the 150 points put up by the host Lakers, who entered the meet as the No. 6-ranked Division II team in the nation. Aquinas College was a distant third with 74.
Freshman Nick Janca came up big in his first collegiate meet for the Cardinals, winning the high jump competition with a clearance of six feet, six inches. North Central also claimed four of the top five places in the 3,000-meter run, as Nolan McKenna hit the line first in eight minutes, 31.22 seconds. He was followed by Zach Hird in second (8:32.68), Al Baldonado in fourth (8:34.24) and Matt Norvell in fifth (8:35.54).
Several top spots in the 300-meter dash were also claimed by Cardinals. Peyton Piron finished second in 35.17 seconds, narrowly missing the North Central varsity record of 35.16, while Maceo Findlay placed third (35.40) and Michael Stanley came in fourth (35.43). Stanley's time establishes a new North Central freshman record, bettering the mark of 35.77 posted by Piron at the same meet in 2016.
Piron and Findlay also teamed with Ben Nordman and Daniel Spaccapaniccia to finish second in the 4-by-400-meter relay (3:25.66), and runner-up finishes also came from Dylan Kuipers in the pole vault (16'0.75"), Chris Buechner in the mile run (4:16.68) and Chris Suda in the 800-meter run (1:57.14). Gavin Cernek finished third in the 400-meter dash (51.54), as did Brendon Sebastian in the 600-meter run (1:23.92), Nick Stuttle in the long jump (20'8") and Kendall Johnson in the triple jump (43'1.50").
North Central hosts the Cardinal Opener on Friday at Al B. Carius Track. Competition is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m.
