The Valparaiso University track and field teams kicked off the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday at Indiana State. Day 1 of the three-day meet was highlighted by Taylor Justison (Catham, Ill./Glenwood) setting a career best in the 400 and by the performance of Zack Fortener (Byron, Ill./ Byron), who competed in his first decathlon. 

How It Happened

• The junior Justison set a personal record in the 1500 with a team-best time of 4:57.87. Sophomore Fortener began competition in his first decathlon on Friday. Day 1 of Fortener’s two-day event was highlighted by a career-best time in the 400-meter dash (52.70) and long jump (19-2¾  [5.86m]).
• Anne Mou (Bloomingdale, Ill./ Lake Park) sailed past her previous career best in the javelin throw, setting a new watermark of 113-7 (34.62m). Connor Hickey (Peru, Ill./ LaSalle-Peru) had his best javelin throw since 2016, landing 155-4 (47.35m).
• Jake Rasawehr (Celina, Ohio / Celina) led the team in the men’s hammer throw, finishing just off his career mark by hitting 150-5 (45.85m). Alek Trafton (Lockport, Ill./ Lockport) was able to beat his previous best by nearly 10 feet, landing a throw of 138-9 (42.30m) for the team’s second-best mark of the day in the event.
• Five Valpo runners on the men’s team competed in the 1500. They were led by Jack Mader (Granger, Ind./ Penn), who finished with a time of 3:58.64 and was closely followed by Hickey at 4:01.21.
• Freshman Maranda Donahue (Delton, Mich./ Delton-Kellogg) finished two spots behind her teammate Justison in the 1500, coming across at 5:19.60.
• Katherine Germann (Cincinnati, Ohio/ Finneytown) ran in the 10K for the second straight meet. She finished just a few seconds off her pervious time, hitting a mark of 38:06.05. Dominic Paoletti (Monroe, Mich./ Monroe St. Mary) also ran in the event for the second meet in a row, and finished this one with a time of 31:30.82.
• Lauren Mikolajczak (Bloomingdale, Ill./ Montini Catholic) led the group of five Valpo throwers in the women’s hammer, landing a mark of 149-6 (45.57m).

Up Next
Valpo will remain in Terre Haute for Day 2 of the MVC Championships on Saturday. Links to live results and the ESPN+ video coverage are available on ValpoAthletics.com.