One-Two Finishes in Menâ€™s Discus, Javelin Among Highlights at WMU

One-Two Finishes in Men’s Discus, Javelin Among Highlights at WMU

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Will Rinker, pictured here at the MVC Indoor Championships, took the top spot in the discus this weekend.

The Valparaiso University track & field team competed at Western Michigan’s Jack Shaw Invitational this weekend in Kalamazoo, Mich. One-two finishes in both the men’s discus and men’s javelin were among the highlights for the Beacons.

How It Happened

In the discus, Will Rinker (Valparaiso, Ind. / Chesterton) and Nate Smith (Lake Station, Ind. / Lake State) took the top two spots, both establishing personal bests in the process. Rinker won the event at 43.34 meters (142-2), while Smith followed at 42.18m (138-4). Rinker added a runner-up finish in the hammer throw at 43.48m (142-8).
Valpo also boasted a 1-2 punch in the javelin, as Ethan Litavecz (Highland, Ind. / Highland) took top honors with a mark of 53.03m (173-11), followed by Tommy Palmer (Saco, Maine / Phillips Exeter Academy) at 42.51m (139-5).
Elsewhere in the men’s throws, Nate Smith (Lake Station, Ind. / Lake Station) was second in the shot put at 14.10m (46-3.25) and Gabe Quinn (LaPorte, Ind. / LaPorte) set a PR at 12.92m (42-4.75) in that event.
In the women’s throws, Tori Gerhardt (Westville, Ind. / Chesterton) paced the team in the shot put, discus and hammer. She recorded season-best marks in all three events, turning in tosses of 11.31m (37-1.25) in the shot, 37.40m (122-8) in the discus and 42.27m (138-8) in the hammer.
A javelin heave of 27.24 (91-0) allowed Rhena Kiger (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point) to finish second.
In the sprints, Taylor Pusateri (Portage, Ind. / Portage) was the runner-up in the 100 at 12.81 and set a new PR by finishing sixth of 15 in the 200 at 26.33. Juliana Ferrara (Fox River Grove, Ill. / Cary-Grove) and Kai Dilosa also had runner-up finishes with Ferrara’s coming in the 400 at 1:01.08 and Dilosa’s in the 400 hurdles at 1:11.26.
On the men’s side, Tim Whitelaw (Park Ridge, Ill. / Maine South) finished fourth of 15 in the 200 at 22.48, while Anthony Vassolo’s (Tinley Park, Ill. / Andrew) 400 time of 53.28 seconds placed him in fourth. In the 100 hurdles, Chaise Magnuson led the team with a third-place time of 16.04.
In the mid-distance, Noah Meacham (Tulsa, Okla. / Broken Arrow) placed fourth of 15 in the 1500 at 4:01.56. Sean Curran was the runner-up in the 3000 steeplechase with a PR of 10:04.08.
On the women’s side, Joely Overstreet (Genoa, Ill. / Genoa-Kingston) finished the 1500 in sixth of 21 at 5:02.71.
In the jumps, Micah Mullings (Minesing, Ontario, Canada / Barrie North) was second in the men’s long jump at 6.77m (22-2.5) and Katie Koryczan (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Purdue Northwest]) set a PR in that event on the women’s side at 4.78m (15-8.25).