Seven different Crusader athletes combined on nine top-ten finishes Sunday as the Valparaiso men’s track and field team closed out the 2010 Horizon League Outdoor Championships in Lisle, Ill. in seventh place.

Valpo totaled 37 points over the three-day meet for its seventh-place finish.  Milwaukee took top team honors with 174 points.

The throws provided the Crusaders with five top-tens on Sunday.  Nick Babbitt (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet) earned a podium finish in the hammer throw with a toss of 167’2”, good for third place and the third-best effort in the event in Valpo history.  Bill Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) and Andrew Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) finished eighth and tenth, respectively, in the hammer with efforts of 148’10” and 137’4”.  The latter Rixon also placed eighth in the shot put with a mark of 41’4 ½”, while Ronnie Fredericks (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) finished tenth in the event with a mark of 36’11”.

Also in the infield, Valpo picked up two top-tens in the triple jump.  Jarrett Mickens (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) came up just short of the podium, placing fourth with a leap of 46’2” and Steve Schubert (Lisle, Ill./Benet Academy) recorded a jump of 44’3 ¼”, good for eighth place.

On the track, Mike Kash (Woodridge, Ill./Lemont Township) earned top-ten finishes in both hurdle events after qualifying for both event finals on Saturday.  Kash ran a season-best time of 57.27 seconds in the 400m hurdles, good for seventh place and coming up just three one-hundredths of a second shy of Valpo’s all-time top-five.  The freshman also placed ninth in the 110m hurdles, crossing the line in 16.88 seconds.  Also leading Valpo runners on Sunday were Jordan Piaskowy (Crete, Ill./Illiana Christian) in the 5,000m run, finishing 11th with a time of 15:38.71, and David Carter (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) in the 1,500m run, which he ran in 4:09.03 to place 17th.

The league championship meet concludes Valparaiso’s 2010 season as a complete squad.  Individuals who have a chance to earn invitations to the 2010 NCAA Regionals will learn if they will be moving on within the next couple weeks.