Saturday, February 04, 2012

Sophomore Julian Smith (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) lowered two of his school records in the 60m and 200m dashes on Saturday at the Meyo Invitational in Notre Dame, Ind. to highlight the Valparaiso men’s track and field team’s weekend.  A number of Crusaders competed at Notre Dame, while the majority of the squad competed at the Mastodon Invitational in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Smith, who was the last of 12 qualifiers on Friday evening for the event final in the 60m dash, lowered his school record in the sprint by five one-hundredths of a second, crossing the line Saturday in 6.86 seconds to finish in sixth place.  The sophomore then turned around and bested his previous top time in the 200m dash as well, also shaving five one-hundredths of a second off that mark as he placed fourth with a time of 21.70 seconds.

Smith wasn’t the only Crusader at the Meyo Invitational to move onto Valpo’s all-time charts, though, as a pair of freshmen stood out as well.  Kevin Adamik (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) crossed the line with a time of 50.72 seconds in the 400m dash, the fourth-fastest effort in the event all-time at Valpo.  Nick Kowaleski (Lockbourne, Ohio/Grove City) joined Smith in the top-five all-time in the 200m dash, finishing in 29^th place with a time of 22.64 seconds, third-fastest in Crusader history in the event.  Senior Bill Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) led Valpo in the weight throw at Notre Dame as well, placing 18^th with a toss of 49’0 ¼”.

Meanwhile, at the Mastodon Invitational, the Crusaders tallied 11 top-two placements.  On the track, Valpo earned event victories from Ricky Laskowski (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) in the 200m dash (23.38) and Joe Holy (Bolingbrook, Ill./Joliet Catholic) in the 400m dash (52.81).  On the infield, Sean Carey (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) took first in the pole vault (11’11 ¾”), while Pete Rufo (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) captured the high jump (5’8”).

Jeremy Getz finished just behind Rufo in the high jump in second place, clearing 5’6”, while Jacob Frey (St. Paul, Minn./Roseville Area) earned a runner-up finish in the weight throw with an effort of 47’3 ½”.  Laskowski came home second in the 60m dash (7.38) and Mickey Delcambre (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) finished just behind Holy in the 400m dash with a time of 52.87 seconds.  Valpo also picked up two second-places in the distance events, courtesy of Joe Johnson (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) in the 3,000m run (9:16.65) and Trace Ostergren (LaPorte, Ind./Culver Academy) in the 5,000m run (16:02.84).

Valparaiso returns to action next weekend at the GVSU Big Meet in Allendale, Mich.  The two-day event begins Friday, Feb. 10 at 9 a.m. CST.