Valparaiso sent a pair of runners to the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Ga., as both Julian Smith (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) and Nick Kowaleski (Lockbourne, Ohio/Grove City) competed Friday evening in the preliminary heats of the 100m dash.

Both sophomore Julian Smith (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) and freshman Nick Kowaleski (Lockbourne, Ohio/Grove City) broke the meet record in the 100m dash, while Smith also won the 200m dash as the Valparaiso men’s track and field team concluded the 2012 Horizon League Outdoor Championships in Milwaukee, Wis. on Sunday in fifth place.

A fifth-place finish by senior Bill Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) paced the Valparaiso men’s track and field team on Saturday, while the Crusaders qualified a total of five runners into Sunday’s event finals as they competed on day two at the 2012 Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Milwaukee, Wis.

Led by a second-place effort from freshman Jeremy Getz in the javelin throw, the Valparaiso men’s track and field team sits in third place after the first day of action at the 2012 Horizon League Outdoor Championships in Milwaukee, Wis.

Valparaiso sophomore Julian Smith (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) has been named the Horizon League Male Track Athlete of the Week after winning the 100m dash for the fifth time in as many meets during the 2012 outdoor season.

Senior Bill Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) unleashed Valpo’s second-best toss in program history in the hammer throw as the Valparaiso men’s track and field squad completed its final tuneup for the Horizon League Championships this weekend at the Purdue Open in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Valparaiso track and field program had four athletes named to the Horizon League’s Indoor Track and Field Academic All-League Team, as announced today by the league office. Sophomore Claire Johnson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) represented the Valpo women’s squad, while redshirt junior Chris Hovan (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Christian), junior Joe Johnson (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) and junior Andrew Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) earned spots on the men’s team.

A new school record in the 100m dash from sophomore Julian Smith (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) highlighted the Valparaiso men’s track and field team’s performances this weekend at the Al Owens Classic in Allendale, Mich., hosted by Grand Valley State University.