Olivet College ends indoor track and field season at Calvin Collegiate Championships

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Olivet College ended its indoor portion of its track and field schedule today by participating in the Calvin College Collegiate Championships inside the Huizenga Tennis & Track Center in Grand Rapids. Several indoor school records were broken, as well as a number of individuals posted season-best performances.

For the women, junior Cassie Ciaravino (Lapeer/East) was a double winner for the Comets. She took first-place in the long jump with a mark of 5.32 meters/17 feet, 7-1/2 inches and high jump with a clearance of 1.55 meters/5 feet, 1 inch. On the track, Ciaravino placed third in the 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 9.38 seconds.

Senior Sara Wegener (Lansing/Lansing Catholic) won the shot put with an indoor school-record mark of 12.18 meters/39 feet, 11-1/2 inches. She was fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 14.01 meters/45 feet, 11-3/4 inches. Sophomore Alex Thulin (Colon) finished in sixth-place in the weight throw at 12.30 meters/40 feet, 4-1/4 inches and eighth-place in the shot put with a season-best mark of 10.46 meters/34 feet, 4 inches.

Sophomore Danielle Hoffman (Parma/Western) placed fourth in the pole vault, tying the school record at 2.90 meters/9 feet, 6-1/4 inches. Fellow sophomore Lauren Easton (Jackson/Parma Western) was ninth in the pole vault at 2.60 meters/8 feet, 6-1/4 inches. Senior Rachael Wagner (Clinton Twp./Fraser) tied for fifth-place in the high jump with a 1.50 meters/4 feet, 11 inches clearance.

Sophomore Courtney Reed (Battle Creek/Lakeview) and freshman Brooke Leach (Clinton Twp./Chippewa Valley) placed eighth and ninth, respectively in the 200-meter dash in season-best times of 28.29 and 28.44 seconds. Senior Jenna Mayle (Ionia) was the ninth-fastest runner in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:30.52.

For the men, junior Jalen Weaver (Albion) and freshman Connor Bauserman (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) finished 1-2 in the 800-meter run at 1:54.98 and 1:57.98, respectively. Bauserman's time was a season-best by almost four seconds. Also in the 800, junior Andrew Benkovsky (Eaton Rapids) placed ninth with a season-best time of 2:03.21.

Junior Greg Lutzke (Williamston) had the third-fastest time in the 5,000-meter run at 15:35.71. Freshman Blake Wilson (Battle Creek/Lakeview) was fourth in the mile run with a season-best time of 4:33.93.

Freshman Darren Lumpkin (Pontiac/Oxford) and sophomore Travon Tatum (Battle Creek/Lakeview) were eighth (:7.31) and ninth (:7.34), respectively, in the 60-meter dash. Lumpkin also finished in seventh-place in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 23.73 seconds.

Freshman Jourdyn Thompson (Lansing/Sexton) was ninth in the 60-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 9.28 seconds. Bauserman, sophomore Tyler Britten (Mendon), Weaver and Thompson combined for a second-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay with a season-best time of 3:31.96.

Olivet's best finish in the field events was by Tatum in the long jump. His mark of 6.12 meters/20 feet, 1 inch was good enough for seventh-place.

Olivet is now off until its outdoor opener March 29 at the Defiance (Ohio) College Dick Small Invitational.