Three members of the Valparaiso University track & field team took the top spot in their respective events this weekend, part of another strong showing from the program at Indiana State’s Gibson Invitational in Terre Haute. A pair of wins came in the distance while the third occurred in the jumps as Valpo finished in the top half of the team standings.

How It Happened

• Valpo had a good showing in the men’s 5,000, led by Simeon Ehm (Castle Rock, Colo. / Heritage), who took the event title out of 21 competitors. He led a trio of Beacons that finished in the top four in that event with Evan Walda third at 15:03.89 and Eric Carothers (Fishers, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern) fourth at 15:05.19.
• Another big day in the jumps was turned in by Micah Mullings (Minesing, Ontario, Canada / Barrie North), who won the triple jump with a personal record of 14.16m (46-5.5). He came out on top in a 10-athlete field. Mullings placed third of 33 in the long jump after covering 7.20m (23-7.5). That was a PR and the fourth best outdoor long jump in program history. It was the best such jump since Jarrett Mickens set the program record in 2011.
• Ignacio Veloz Bonilla (San Juan, P.R. / American Military Academy) boasted another event win in the men’s 800, outdoing a field that featured 34 competitors. He stopped the clock in 1:51.81.
• In the women’s 1500, Grace Aurand (Highland, Ind. / Highland) finished fifth out of 37, authoring a new PR at 4:43.08.
• In the women’s heptathlon, Rhena Kiger (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point) cracked the program record book with a score of 3756, the fourth highest total in program history in that event. That was the best heptathlon score by a Valpo woman since Heather Furr in 2004 (3,969).
• Valpo finished seventh of 20 in the men’s team standings.

Up Next

The Beacons will participate in the Jim Freeman Louisville Invitational, which will take place next week in Louisville, Ky.