FEB. 24 — Squad Wraps Up Indoor Season At Fred Wilt Invite

Goshen concludes first half of year with personal bests, promise for outdoors

Anderson, IN — The Goshen College men’s track and field team finished the indoor portion of its 2007 schedule on Saturday, finishing 10th out of 11 teams at the Fred Wilt Invitational on the campus of Anderson University.

With Goshen just beginning its spring break, the Leafs took just seven athletes to the meet. Goshen registered four total points on the afternoon. Monmouth College won the team competition, garnering 154 points.

“Although we didn’t have quite as many scoring performances, we did have several noteworthy performances in our last meet of the indoor season,” said Rick Clark, Goshen head coach. “We have a very young team, and we’re excited about the possibilities in our outdoor season.”

Junior Justin Hochstetler highlighted the day’s efforts, finishing fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 49 feet, 1 inch. That effort narrowly missed the NAIA national qualifying mark, which would have sent Hochstetler to the indoor national championships for the first time in his career.

Hochstetler’s performance was backed by a slew of personal-best efforts from other Leafs’ competitors, as junior Luis Robledo and sophomore Jon Casselberry-Scott posted individual records in the pole vault, clearing 12 feet, 6 inches and 13 feet, 1 inch, respectively. Sophomore Brent Handfield recorded a season-best effort of 40 feet, 4 and ¼ inches in the triple jump, while junior Jake Gillette ripped off a time of 16:06.02 in the 5,000-meter run. That clip was Gillette’s fastest career time.

“Considering that we had a limited team due to our spring break, I was pleased with our efforts,” Clark said. “Even with a smaller number of athletes competing we had a number of very significant performances.”

For a complete list of individual and team performances at Saturday’s Fred Wilt Invite, click here.

Goshen will next compete in the Dick Small Invitational at Defiance College on Saturday, Mar. 24. The Leafs’ women’s team, meanwhile, preps for the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships on Mar. 8-10. Click here for more information on Goshen’s women’s track and field squad.