SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – Siena Heights kicked off the outdoor track and field season at the Bill Bippes Cougar Classic hosted by Spring Arbor University. The Saints had three athletes earn personal records (PR) and one athlete earned an NAIA qualifying B standard mark.
Junior Zachary Gipple threw 15.79 meters in the shot put on Friday earning a B standard mark for the event and taking first place. The Coldwater, Michigan native also participated in the disc throw, heaving a distance of 42.87 meters for a personal record and finished first. Two other SHU athletes gained PRs, in the 400-meter Davion Curry placed fifth with a run time of 52.39 seconds. Running in the 1500-meter race was freshman Jacob Harberts who finsihed with a time of 4:01.98 for a new PR and claimed the first-place title in the event.
Siena Heights claimed first place in seven other events, totalling 10 first place finishes for the team. Noah Cunningham competed in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.44 earning the first-place mark, while also earning first in the javelin with a throw of 51.28 meters. The 4x400 team of Abdullah Nassr, Joshua Cundy, Cedric Grant, and Davion Curry came in first with a total run time of 3:25.55. Jefferson Edwards finished first in the hammer throw, heaving 47.62 meters. Timothy Werner placed first in the pole vault flying at a height of 4.40 meters. While Davion Curry collected first place in both the triple and long jump, leaping 6.59 meters in the long jump and 13.53 meters in the triple.
SHU claimed four second-place finishes, Jefferson Edwards threw 40.71 meters in the discus to earn his second-place mark.While, Noah Cunningham ran for a total time of 22.85 in the 200 meters for his second-place finish. In the 800-meter competition, Joshua Cundy placed second with a time of 1:57.32, and in the shot-put, Sebastian Hamilton placed second with a throw of 14.53 meters.
Seven of Siena's athletes were able to finish in the top five of their events. Cedric Grant earned a third-place mark in the 800 meter race, running a 1:58.21, as Jacob Harberts came in fourth with a time of 1:59.59. Liam Hartsuff finished fourth in the 5000-meter ending with a time of 15:46.13. Jefferson Edwards threw 14.07 in the shot-put competition earning third place, while Gage Robinson heaved 12.49 meters to claim fifth. In the pole vault, Alan Alston flew for a height of 4.10 meters, earning third place overall. In the hammer throw, Sebastian Hamilton finished in fourth with a total distance of 35.32.
Up Next – Siena Heights track and field travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to compete in the Indiana Tech Warrior Challenge on Saturday, April 2.
