By Britton Boyle
Bluffton University Men’s Track and Field had some standout performances Saturday, Feb. 25, to finish third at the HCAC indoor conference meet at Centennial Field House at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Beavers came into the meet with high hopes after finishing fourth at the previous year’s indoor conference meet. They did that and more, finishing the meet in third place with a total of 79 points, eclipsing last year’s total of 64 points.
“From freshman year to now it’s really amazing to see how far we’ve come as a program,” said senior captain Morgan Adams. “There was only one goal for indoor and that was to get third and to be able to get it done feels really special.”
Bluffton was led by standout junior Desmond Gist who was looking to add to his long list of accolades in his time at Bluffton. Gist, a national qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles during last year’s outdoor season, had another busy day on Saturday, racking up a team leading 37 points over five events for the Beavers including a first-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.
The Beavers scored a large amount of their points from the jump’s events with a total of 32 of the team’s 79 points coming from these events. Gist contributed 13 points in the events, with sophomores Kyle Manns and Joey Bonham as well as junior Malik Waters all scoring points as well.
The Beavers also earned scoring contributions from both of the throws, distance and middle-distance groups of the team. These groups combined to score an additional 13 points for the Beavers.
Big points also came from the Beavers sprint relay teams, which took down record after record on the day. The 4×200 meter team of Gist, junior Blayden McCoy and sophomores Jayden McConnell and Russell Lough finished third with a time of 1:32.65, a new school record.
In the meet’s final event, the 4×400 meter relay, the team of McCoy, Lough, McConnell and sophomore Simon Shawk took the line. This relay team was fresh off breaking the school record in the event just a week earlier and wanted to prove they could do it against the best the conference had to offer. They proved that and more, finishing in first place in an action packed race that came down to the very end.
McConnell, the anchor of the relay, received the baton and was able to make a pass for first, a lead he would not relinquish. McConnell fought hard and was able to hold off the competitors as they came to the finish line with not even a full second between them and second place. With the win, the relay team also broke their own school record with a new time of 3:27.79.
“Being the first leg I knew I had to get out to a good start,” said McCoy. “Rose Hulman’s first leg is arguably the fastest 400 runner in the conference. I needed to have us in second when I handed off and had to make sure we were not too far off of Rose in first.”
With the indoor season now over, the Beavers turn their sights to the outdoor season and hope to repeat this same success.
“Repeating third is the goal, and I think it’s attainable,” said Assistant Track and Field Coach Connor Gulick. “We are getting some people back from injury, which should only add to what we were able to accomplish this season. It will be a little tougher now that we aren’t going to sneak up on anyone, but the team is excited to get back after it and try and carry the momentum over to the outdoor season.”
The Beavers open their outdoor season Saturday, March 25, at Cedarville University. Outdoor conference is set for April 28 to 29 at Franklin College.
