Saturday, January 31, 2009

Three Crusader men, led by a fourth-place showing in the pole vault by Philip Lohrmann (Battle Ground, Wash./Battle Ground [Clark C.C.]), posted top-ten finishes as the Valparaiso men’s track and field squad competed Friday and Saturday at the Findlay Classic in Findlay, Ohio.

Lohrmann cleared a height of 13’7 ¼” to finish in a tie for fourth place, his third top-ten of the 2009 indoor campaign in the pole vault.  Freshman Ryan Abraham (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) joined Lohrmann in the top-ten in the event, clearing 12’7 ½”, good for a tie for eighth place.

Senior Tom Heun (Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) registered his top-ten showing on the track in the 60m hurdles.  Heun qualified for the finals with a time of 8.73 seconds in the preliminary round and ended the event in tenth place, crossing the line in the finals in 8.80 seconds.

Heun also was the top Crusader finisher in the 200m dash with a time of 24.27 seconds.  Other top Valpo finishers at the meet included Vinnie Liuzzo (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown) in the 60m dash (7.34 seconds), Christopher Stohs (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission North) in the shot put (38’5 ½”) and Bill Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) in the weight throw (44’6”).

The Crusaders return to the track next weekend, splitting up for a pair of meets.  Some Valpo athletes will take part in Notre Dame’s Meyo Invitational, a two-day meet starting Friday, February 6, while most of the squad will head to the Tiger Invitational in Greencastle, Ind. on Friday evening.