Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Valparaiso men’s track and field squad competed Saturday at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich., hosted by the University of Michigan.

Jarrett Mickens (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) posted Valpo’s top finish on the day, placing fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 43’4 ¼”.  Joining Mickens with a top-ten finish in the field events was Philip Lohrmann (Battle Ground, Wash./Battle Ground [Clark C.C.]), who cleared 13’9 ¼” in the pole vault, good for eighth place.  Nick Babbitt (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) led three Crusaders competing in the weight throw with a toss of 42’11 ½”, finishing 11th.

On the track, the top showing came from Tom Heun (Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights), who narrowly missed qualifying for the event finals in the 60m hurdles, placing ninth in the preliminary round with a time of 8.68 seconds.  In the 60m dash, freshman Vinnie Liuzzo (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown) paced the Crusaders with a time of 7.33 seconds.

Valpo returns to action next weekend at the two-day Findlay Classic in Findlay, Ohio.  The meet starts Friday at 10 a.m. CST.