Friday, January 14, 2011

Senior Jarrett Mickens (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) demolished the Valparaiso school record in the triple jump by more than a foot Friday as the Crusaders competed at the Bob Eubanks Open in Allendale, Mich., hosted by Grand Valley State.

Mickens, whose previous P.R. in the triple jump was 46'4 1/4”, added nearly two feet to that mark, unleashing a leap of 48'2” Friday.  The jump broke a 35-year-old Crusader program record in the event, far surpassing Jeff Thomas' 1976 distance of 46'9”.  Mickens, who already owns one Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week honor this year, won the event Friday by nearly three full feet.

Mickens also matched his indoor P.R. in the long jump Friday, finishing third in the event with a leap of 22'1”, fourth-best in school history.  Senior Steve Schubert (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) placed fourth in the triple jump (44'0”) and 15th in the long jump (19'8 3/4”), while redshirt sophomore Chris Hovan (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Christian) registered a tenth-place showing in the triple jump (40'11 3/4”).  In the throws, freshman David Goad (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) led the Crusaders Friday with a 15th-place finish in the shot put, tallying a mark of 43'11 1/4”.

On the track, freshman Julian Smith (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) continued the tremendous start to his Crusader career, finishing the day with the second-fastest time in program history in a pair of events.  Smith qualified third for the finals in the 60m dash with a time of 7.03 seconds and then slashed another three-hundredths of a second off his time in the event final, crossing the line in 7.00 seconds flat to finish second.  Smith also had a podium finish in the 200m dash, coming home in 22.30 seconds.

Valparaiso returns to the track next Saturday, Jan. 22 in Ann Arbor, Mich. at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational.  The meet is slated for an 11 a.m. CST start.