Jarrett Mickens (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley), Steve Schubert (Lisle, Ill./Benet Academy) and Nick Babbitt (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet) posted some of the top performances in Crusader history in their respective events, leading the Valparaiso men’s track and field squad to a ninth-place finish Saturday at the Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.

The Crusaders tallied 24 points on the day to finish ninth in the 15-team field.  The host RedHawks took top team honors with 201.5 points.

Fresh off of earning Horizon League Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors a week ago, Mickens recorded a career-best leap Saturday in the triple jump, jumping 46’0” even, good for a runner-up finish and the third-best mark all-time at Valpo.  Mickens also tallied a season-best effort in the long jump, placing sixth with a mark of 22’4 ½”.

Schubert finished close behind Mickens in the triple jump, also setting a new career best with a jump of 45’9” to finish third on Saturday and move into fourth on Valpo’s all-time chart in the event.  Meanwhile, Babbitt set a new career best in the hammer throw, tossing the implement 160’0”, fifth-best in Crusader history and good for a ninth-place showing Saturday.

Elsewhere for the Crusaders, Vince Liuzzo (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown) earned a fifth-place finish in the javelin throw with a toss of 156’0”.  On the track, Mike Kash (Woodridge, Ill./Lemont Township) finished in ninth place in the 400m hurdles, completing the circuit in a career-best time of 1:00.51.

Valparaiso returns to action next Saturday, April 17 at the Northern Illinois Invitational in DeKalb, Ill.