The Valparaiso men’s track and field team started the outdoor season off on the right foot by having seven first place finishes at the Gene and Rose Edmonds Invitational held in Rensselaer, Ind. on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Jacob Frey (St. Paul, Minn./Roseville Area) was a double-winner for the Crusaders. He took the hammer throw with a distance of 163’3”, and his mark of 141’7” was also good enough for the win. Frey also took fifth in the shot put with a best distance of 38’6 ¾”.

Sophomore Jeremy Getz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the javelin throw with a distance of 208’3”. Senior Andrew Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) took second in the javelin and also finished third in the hammer throw.

Freshman Elijah Owen (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) won the high jump, clearing 6’2 ¾”, and he also finished third in the long jump with a best mark of 19’10 ¼”.

Freshman Barrett Rehm (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) cleared 13’1 ½” to win the pole vault.

On the track, Michael Salguero (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) led a pack of Crusaders in the win in the 1500-meter run. Salguero crossed the line with a time of 4:20.80.

He was followed in the next three spots by sophomore Eric Loria (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central), senior Nathan Bluhm (Elkhorn, Wis./Elkhorn Area) and senior Joe Johnson (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South).

Freshman Antown Hatchett (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central) topped the field in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.46 seconds. Freshman Chad Brooks was second with a time of 53.06.

Sophomore Kevin Adamik (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) took second in the 200-meter dash, crossing the line in 23.05 seconds, and senior Wally Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) was second in the 800-meter run (1:59.38).

The Crusaders return to action on Friday, Mar. 29 on day one of the Mike Poehlein Invitation in West Lafayette, Ind.