The Valparaiso men’s track and field team closed out the Horizon League Outdoor Championship on Sunday by finishing in fourth place with 73 points, their best finish since joining the Horizon League.

“I’m very proud of their battling today,” head coach Ryan Moore said. “We asked them to step up and bridge the gap and they outperformed themselves with their finishes.”

Senior Jacob Frey (St. Paul, Minn./Roseville Area) finished third in the hammer throw with his toss of 59.60m/195-6, bettering his second best mark in school history by four feet and eight inches. Junior Jacob Smutz (West Lafayette, Ind./Harrison) finished two spots behind with a personal best 58.29m/191-3, bettering his third best mark in program history by four feet and five inches.

“They stepped up big for us today,” Moore said. “They both had some big PR’s to help us.”

Junior Chris Sosowski (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) took seventh in the hammer with a throw of 52.07m/170-10 and freshman Isaiah Cook (Granger, Ind./Penn) finished in eighth with a toss of 50.44m/165-6.

Freshman Brandon Riley (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park) finished fourth in the 400 meter dash, running a personal best and fourth fastest time in school history 48.85.

“Having Brandon score that high for us was excellent,” Moore said.

The 4x100m relay of senior Drew Baker (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg), freshman James Sampson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley), sophomore Anthony Franze (Gunter, Texas/Gunter) and senior Josh Carow (Greenwood, Ind./Indianapolis Lutheran) finished in fifth with a time of 42.97.

The 4x400m relay of junior Antwon Hatchett (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central), Carow, freshman Ben Zibricky (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way Central), and Riley took sixth with their time of 3:29.38.

“I was excited with how we put things together in the relays,” Moore added. “ We couldn’t have asked for a better turnout.”

Freshman Jonathan Heagy (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) took eighth in the high jump, clearing 1.85m/6-0.75, while sophomore Adam Bruno (Bloomington, Ill./Normal) finished tenth in the 1,500 m with his time of 4:02.45.