The Valparaiso University track & field team will look to continue the program’s forward trajectory as the Beacons compete in the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, which will be hosted by Indiana State this Friday through Sunday May 10-12 at Gibson Track & Field Complex in Terre Haute, Ind.

Links to live results (via AthleticLive and TimingMD) and video (via ESPN+) will be available on ValpoAthletics.com. Click here for a schedule of events and additional information.

Jumps

After earning All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades in the triple jump at last year’s Outdoor Championships, sophomore Micah Mullings (Minesing, Ontario, Canada / Barrie North) added to his All-MVC trophy case with a pair of podium finishes at this year’s MVC Indoor Championships. He was the runner-up in the long jump and third in the triple jump.

“What impresses me about Micah is his ability to stay neutral,” Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Vincent Walker said. “All of us who know him like to joke that when he’s not competing, he’s right there at camp with his headphones on, sleeping and resting up for those big jumps. His ability to stay neutral regardless of whether it’s a good day or bad day is a really cool character trait.”

Distance

Seniors Evan Walda (Fort Wayne, Ind. / South Side) and Simeon Ehm (Castle Rock, Colo. / Heritage) lead the Valpo men in the distance, while senior Grace Aurand (Highland, Ind. / Highland) is at the forefront of the women’s distance group.

In his final tune-up prior to the MVC Championships, Walda added to his list of program records by shattering the previous mark in the outdoor 5,000 at the GVSU Extra Weekend with a time of 14:14.43, placing third in a 79-runner field. He broke a record that had stood since 2003. Ehm also PR’d at GVSU and boasted the program’s third-best all-time performance in that event.

“Evan is such a determined guy,” Walker said. “Last year he had some big breakout performances late in the season, but it wasn’t enough for him and we talked about what we could do over the summer to accomplish some of those big goals. He scored in the 10K last year at outdoor conference, but he wants to be on the podium. He wants to win a title. That’s not something you can coach; you can’t put desire in someone. It’s been exciting to see all of his hard work stack up. He’s someone to keep your eye on as we go into the outdoor championships, because he’s coming full force and ready to put The Valley on warning.”

The distance group has an interesting blend of youth and experience, and Walker pointed toward freshman Noah Meacham (Tulsa, Okla. / Broken Arrow) as one of the young runners to watch.

“You can’t overlook Simeon either,” Walker said. “It’s been fun to see all of the success that Evan’s had, but Simeon is someone who has been right there with him the whole way. I think those two guys feed off each other in a really friendly way. It’s easy to get caught up in the inner competition, but the way they’ve handled it has led to a lot of their success.”

Throws

Senior Tori Gerhardt (Westville, Ind. / Chesterton) has been a stalwart in the women’s throws throughout her career. She currently owns the team’s best outdoor marks in the shot put (11.87m) and discus (37.70m).

“The throws group is one of the most exciting parts of our team right now,” Walker said. “Tori is coming off a great indoor season. She was one of our first female athletes to score in the indoor championships in quite some time. She had good success in the weight, but sees herself as a hammer thrower and knows the hammer is her best event. She’s been training really well and should be right where we want her for the championship.”

On the men’s side, local products Will Rinker (Valparaiso, Ind. / Chesterton) and Nate Smith (Lake Station, Ind. / Lake Station) have been among the top performers in the throws.

“Seeing Will’s growth in the last year has been huge,” Walker said. “He’s a guy who I see coming in and out of the office all the time, going back and forth to the weight room in addition to practicing his throws and doing all the technical stuff. He’s certainly put in the hard work and earned the success that he’s had. With Nate in his first year of collegiate track, he’s throwing the implements farther at the collegiate level than he was in high school, and those weights are a little bit lighter. For him to already hit that benchmark in his first year is very exciting.”

But perhaps the best story in terms of Valpo throwers comes from junior Ethan Litavecz (Highland, Ind. / Highland). He most recently placed second in the javelin at the Sycamore Open on April 27 and owns a PR of 55.77m this season.

“When I got here, Ethan was a decathlete doing his first decathlon,” Walker said. “He ended up getting injured last fall, tore his ACL and we knew that doing 10 events may not be the best route. He had some success in the javelin and decided to go all in on that, and he had almost a 10-meter PR from when he first threw the javelin in the decathlon his freshman year to now. He’s put himself in a podium spot. Some of his biggest throws this year have been either fouls or strong winds that took the javelin a different way, so he’s a guy who is certainly trying to reach for a title. He’s not content with top three; he wants to get to that first or second spot.”

Sprints

A young group of sprinters features freshmen Juliana Ferrara (Fox River Grove, Ill. / Cary-Grove) and Taylor Pusateri (Portage, Ind. / Portage) among the standouts on the women’s side.

“Juliana was a great distance runner in high school, and I tried to get her to run cross country, but she said she really enjoys the long sprints and she’s done some of the shorter sprints as well,” Walker said. “It seems like every time she’s on the track, it’s PR after PR after PR. With that young group, I look forward to seeing where they go especially as we continue to develop them and bring in strong recruits as well.”

On the men’s side, sophomore Tim Whitelaw (Park Ridge, Ill. / Maine South) has made the most of a unique journey to collegiate track & field and owns team-best times of 10.79 in the 100 and 22.16 in the 200.

“Tim has never run track in his life,” Walker said. “He was a football manager for a while and saw us out practicing and said, ‘Hey, I kind of think I could do that.’ As a coach you hear that and you’re like, ‘OK, bud, this isn’t as easy as it looks,’ but to his credit, he has made it look easy. To be able to run a 10.79 as someone with no running background is great. I have to take my hat off to (associate head coach James Overbo). He’s the first track coach that Tim has had, so all of the habits that he’s formed have been what we expect at the collegiate level. He hasn’t had an opportunity to form bad habits, and every time he steps on the track, he’s having fun with it. It’s been really cool to see.”