The Valparaiso men’s track and field team opened the 2015 Horizon League Track and Field Outdoor Championship on Friday by finishing the day in second place with 25 points.

In the javelin, Jeremy Getz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) captured the title with his throw of 59.94m/196-8 on his second attempt. He out-distanced the field by 12 feet and 11 inches.

“Jeremy did what we expected him to do,” head coach Ryan Moore said. He went out and won and set the tone.

In the decathlon, Elijah Owen (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) and Kevin Adamik (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) sit in second and third with 3,005 and 2,841 points, respectively. Owen sits just 354 points behind leader Michael Crepeau. Owen finished first in the shot put (11.32m/37-1.25) and high jump (1.83m/6-0), second in the long jump (6.31m/20-8.5), fifth in the 100 meter dash (12.22), and fifth in the 400 meter hurdles, (56.93). Adamik finished third in the 100m (11.61), long jump (5.85m/19-2.5), and 400m (53.35), while taking fourth in the shot put (8.73m/28-7.75) and high jump (1.62m/5-3.75).

“The guys are doing well,” Moore said. Both of them are looking to shrink the difference and I’m excited to see what they’re going to do tomorrow.

In the discus, Jacob Smutz (West Lafayette, Ind./Harrison) finished in fifth with his heave of 44.70m/146-8, Isaiah Cook (Granger, Ind./Penn) took sixth his mark 44.15m/144-10, and Chris Sosnowski (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) finished in ninth with his throw of 43.07m/141-4.

“I though Isaiah really stepped up for us in the discus,” Moore said. “It was big for him to score for us and make up for some lost points. We got our work cut out for tomorrow and Sunday.”

Also in the javelin, Owen took third (54.40m/178-6), Dylan Antonides (Wauconda, Ill./Home school) finished in fourth (51.16m/167-10), Brennen Miller (Upper Sandusky, Ohio/Upper Sandusky) took fifth (46.61m/151-11 throw, Alexander Watson (Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) finished in seventh (41.78m/137-1) and Jacob Smutz (West Lafayette, Ind./Harrison) took tenth (41.19m/135-2).

In the 10,000 meter run, Sidney Noble (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) finished 11^th (33:19.60), Max Morello (Plano, Ill./Plano) was one spot behind in 33:40.75 and  Nathan Gafkjen (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) took 16^th in 35:24.43.

“We’re off to a decent start,” Moore added. “Not a great start, but there’s a lot of positives. We got some help where we needed it and we’re in good position heading into the final two days.”

The Brown and Gold return to the track tomorrow morning for day two of the Horizon League Outdoor Championship. The decathlon kicks things off at 8:00 am CT, with field events starting at 11:00 am and running events beginning at 2:00 pm. Links to live results will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.