The Westminster men's track and field team opened their outdoor season with three broken field records at the Culver-Stockton Wildcat Open. The records broken were the javelin throw by junior Bret Robertson, the shot put by freshman Sam Kroll-Taugsolo, and the hammer throw by senior Michael Lutz. The Westminster Blue Jays placed sixth at the Open with 51 points and two first place finishes.
In The Field
Robertson destroyed the javelin throw record, throwing just under eight meters over the previously held record. He placed first out of 14 with his 54.44-meter throw, earning the Blue Jays 10 points. Kroll-Taugsolo and sophomore Ryan Dyer also threw. Kroll-Taugsolo placed sixth with a throw of 39.98-meters, earning one point for the team. Dyer placed seventh with a 36.29-meter throw.
Kroll-Taugsolo threw just over two meters over the previously held shot put record. His 13.31-meter throw landed him in third place out of 19, earning the Blue Jays six points. Junior Christian Houston and Lutz also threw. Houston placed seventh with a throw of 11.6-meters, and Lutz placed 14th (9.64-m).
Lutz broke the hammer throw record with a 35.21-meter throw. The fourth place performance earning the team four points was just under four meters more than the previous held record. Houston also threw, placing ninth with a throw of 25.39-meters.
Rounding out the Blue Jays in the field was Lutz and freshman Logan Shoemaker in the discus. The pair placed seventh (29.20-m) and ninth (26.91-m), respectively.
On The Track
The Blue Jays had eight runners compete in six track events with four top five performances.
Freshman Glenn Teubner earned the team's second first place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a final time of 10:42.81.
Dyer and senior Daniel Lindaman each placed second place in their events, earning the team eight points a piece. Dyer finished the 800-meter run in 2:03.68, and Lindaman finished the 5000-meter run in 16:22.58.
The 4x400-meter relay team, comprised of senior Dan Breihan, Dyer, junior Hussein Attara and freshman Addison Conway, placed fifth with a time of 3:48.47. The fifth place finish gave the Blue Jay squad two more points.
Sophomore Tj Tjikuzu and Breihan each competed in the 400-meter dash. Tjikuzu placed 11th (55.83), while Breihan placed 14th (57.50). Breihan also placed 14th in the 100-meter dash with a final time of 12.14.
The Blue Jays next participate in a two day invitational at Washington University-St. Louis on Friday-Saturday, March 27-28.
