DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Goshen College men's and women's track and field team posted two event wins and had a total of 17 top eight finishes as a partial squad took part in the Dick Small Invitational on the campus of Defiance College Saturday.

Traditionally one of the strengths of the Maple Leaf program, the throwers contributed 10 of those top finishes led by sophomore Matthew Webster. The Indianapolis native won the discus event with a throw of 147-feet, 3-inches.

More importantly, though, Webster's runner-up finish in the hammer throw booked Goshen's first competitor into May's NAIA Outdoor National Championships. His throw of 162'3" was also just a little more than two feet short of the 1999 Maple Leaf record set by Clint Borntrager.

Other Goshen men throwers also had solid days in the two events as freshman Jason Lauver took fourth in the discus (132'6") and fifth in the hammer (105'11"). Junior Eric Hoschstetler also placed sixth in the discus (132'3") and eighth in the hammer (102'6").

"Matt obviously had a very good outdoor opener by winning the discus and qualifying for nationals in the hammer," said head coach Rick Clark. "In the discus, Lauver and Hochstetler teamed up with him to be the first trio in ten years to all throw over 130 feet."

On the women's side, senior Jessica Steil and junior Rachel Mast also placed in the two throwing events. Steil was fifth in both the hammer (106'2") and discus (79'7"), while Mast took sixth in the hammer (105'7") and seventh in the discus (75'10").

On the track, the Maple Leafs also had a flurry of strong performances. Senior Tyler Keller picked up the other individual title for Goshen as he ran to a winning time of 58.82 seconds in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles.

Also in the hurdles, sophomore Ian Shelly placed third in the 110 event in 18.62. Senior twins Ben and Nick Bouwman also grabbed three-four honors in the 10,000 meters with times of 34:04.38 and 35:58.05, respectively.

All told, even with just a partial squad competing, the men tallied 68 points, which was good for fourth place. The women had just two competitors, but managed fourth with 13 points total.

Goshen is now gearing up for their annual Maple Leaf Invitational. The event will be held on Saturday, March 27 at the Eigsti Track and Field Complex.