Greenville, IL, 4/30/2022 – The Westminster College men's track and field team took home seven total medals on the way to 70 team points that was good for a fourth-place finish in the 2022 SLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships that took place on Friday and Saturday this weekend. Senior Devonte Hubbard (Lee's Summit, MO / Grandview Christian) led the way with three medals of his own a gold, a silver and a bronze.
Hubbard got things started in the High Jump on Friday afternoon. He would clear a season best 1.88 meters on his second attempt for a podium finish in second place. The second-place finish earned the team eight points. Freshman Keegan Zdybel would clear 1.78 meters and would take home sixth place and score one point for the team.
Next up for Hubbard was the long jump. He would hurl himself through the air on his first attempt 6.66 meters to make another podium finish in third place. The finish would be good for six points for the team. He would narrowly beat out fellow Blue Jay Dexter Allen (St. Louis, MO / Saint Louis University) who managed a mark of 6.63 meters on his third attempt. He would just miss the podium and finished fourth place scoring four points for the team!
It was in the triple jump that Hubbard would shine the brightest as he would record a SLIAC Championship meet record jump of 14.28 meters or 46'10.25" to win the gold. The old mark was held by Greg Mitchell of Greenville who jumped 46'2.92" back in 2018 The mark also breaks the modern outdoor school record of 13.12 meters set by C.J. Vaughan on April 27, 2013 at Illinois College. The 46'10.25" which also bests the Westminster College retired record of 46'9" that was set by Gary Bush back in 1978. The record shattering performance was also good to give the Blue Jays ten points.
Freshman Brayden Isgriggs (Cadet, Mo / Patosi) narrowly missed the podium in the discus. His throw of 36.20 meters was good enough to place him fourth and bring in four more points for the team. Freshman P.J. Bledsoe (Eldon, MO / Eldon) turned in a throw of 32.45 meters that placed him sixth and brought in another point for the team. Freshman Tucker Brown (Cuba,Mo / Cuba) threw 30.72 meters to finish in seventh place.
The freshman Brown would score two points for the team when he threw the javelin 41.88 meters to finish in fifth place overall. Brown would also throw the shot put for the Blue Jays 9.95 meters which would place him seventh in the meet.
Freshman Lane Martin (Lexington, MO / Lexington) would place fifth in the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 39:50.90. That was good for two points for the team! Martin would also run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and finish in fifth place again with a time of 12:04.98 while scoring another two points.
The Westminster men would take a podium finish with their 4 x 100-meter relay team. The team of Logan Blickhan (Kirksville, MO / Kirksville), Ben Wallace (Chicago, IL / Thornton Fractional South), Allen and Zdybel would turn in a time of 45.25 seconds, edging Spalding University, which was good for a third-place finish and six team points.
Allen would find the podium again individually in the 110-meter-high hurdles. He would turn in a time of 18.26 seconds good for third place and another medal. Allen would also reach the podium in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a third-place finish. He turned in a time of 1:01.02. Zdybel would finish in fifth place with a time 1:05.93, to score two points.
Freshman Michael Giles (Pleasant Hill, IL / Pleasant Hill) would find his way to the podium on Saturday as he would run the 1500 meter in 4:22.92. This time would be good for a third-place finish, a medal and six points for the team. Giles would also compete in the 800-meter run finishing in seventh place with a time of 2:04.57.
Sophomore Wallace would turn in a 100-meter time of 12.04 seconds while finishing in 12th place.
Wallace would also run the 200 meters finishing in 19th place with a time of 24.89 seconds. Blickhan would also compete in the race finishing 11th with a time of 23.57 seconds.
Blickhan, Giles, Zdybel and Hubbard would join forces in the 4 x 400-meter relay. They would race around the track in 3:43.89. That time just missed the podium but got the quartet a fourth-place finish and the last four points for the Blue Jays on the day.
The final team point totals look like this:
(M) - Team Rankings - 20 Events Scored
1) Greenville 345
2) Webster 88
3) Principia 75
4) Westminster 70
5) Spalding 25
6) Fontbonne 2
