At long last, the Valparaiso University track & field teams embarked upon their first meet of the 2021 spring season on Saturday at the Snowdown Showdown, hosted by Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. Valpo distance runners began their season last week with a trip to GVSU, while the remaining track & field student-athletes made their long-awaited season debuts on Saturday.

How It Happened

• Junior Michelle Pierce (Indianapolis, Ind. / Heritage Christian) had a commendable day in the women’s weight throw, uncorking a heave of 16.58m (54-4.75) to finish in ninth overall. In the process, she cracked the Top 5 in program history in the indoor weight throw, usurping Megan Howdeshell’s 2015 mark of 52-7.25 for fourth all-time. She finished just behind the third-place mark of 55-4.25 set by Lauren Mikolajczak last season.
• Pierce also competed in the shot put, where she turned in a team-best throw of 10.49m (34-5) to finish 15^th.
• TJ Weinzimmer (Northbrook, Ill. / Glenbrook North) posted the third-best men’s triple jump in the Missouri Valley Conference so far this season by topping out at 13.58m (44-6.75) on Saturday. The Valpo junior finished third in the event.
• Alex Trafton (Lockport, Ill. / Lockport) began his junior season with a pair of Top 15 finishes – 13th in the shot put and 12^th in the weight throw. His first shot put of the season went 13.02m (42-8.75) and his weight throw reached a distance of 15.45m (50-8.25).
• Freshman Isaiah Daggett (Chicago, Ill. / Hammond Gavit) made a strong first impression in his first collegiate meet, placing 10^th in the long jump at 5.75m (18-10.75).
• Will Maidment (Woodstock, Ill. / Woodstock) posted a mark of 1.91m (6-3.25) in the high jump to finish 11^th.
• Sophomore Lukas Sepulveda (Camano Island, Wash. / Stanwood) turned in a time of 23.38 in the 200-meter dash to lead the team and rank 15^th in the event.
• Peyton Weber (Georgetown, Wis. / Kettle Moraine Lutheran) checked in at 10.56m (34-7.75) in the women’s triple jump to finish sixth.

Up Next 

Valpo will return to Allendale, Mich. to compete in the GVSU Big Meet on Feb. 12-13. That will be part of a split-squad weekend that will also see athletes head to Terre Haute, Ind. to compete in the Indiana State Invitational.