GREENCASTLE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied on six first-place and eight runner-up performances to capture its first Indiana Division III Meet men's team championship to highlight a strong performance at DePauw University on Saturday.
The Fightin' Engineer men outdistanced eight Division III programs in Indiana with 211.5 points to win top team honors for the first time in meet history. Wabash came home second with 179 points, followed by Trine at 107.
On the women's side, Rose-Hulman had a strong team performance to come home third overall for its best team finish in this meet. Hanover earned top honors with 153 points, followed by Manchester at 148 and Rose-Hulman at 131.
The men's squad earned six first-place finishes, while the women racked up five top finishes to highlight the day. The men's team relied on five field event victories to bolster the team score. Field event winners included Josh Himes in the shot put (49' 8 1/4"); Andrew Okruch in the discus (144' 5"); Nick Palmer in the pole vault (15' 9 1/4"); Trey Sykes in the triple jump (45' 0 1/4"); and Ben Wewe in the javelin (167' 7").
Senior Isaiah Smith added a first-place running event finish, taking home a title in the 400-hurdles in a time of 55.52 seconds.
On the women's side, three running event and two field event first-place finishes highlighted the day. Camille Blaisdell, Clare Bruns, and Jaclyn Setina recorded the second-best marks in Rose-Hulman history to win their events. Blaisdell won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a meet record time of 11:44.61, while Setina cleared one of the top high jump marks in Division III nationwide at 5' 6 1/2". Bruns topped her own No. 2 ranked school history mark in the 400-hurdles in 1:06.98 to earn first-place honors.
Other women's winners included Debie Gedeon in the 100-hurdles (15.06) and Gabi Razma in the triple jump (36' 9 3/4").
The men's squad added eight runner-up performances to outscore Wabash in the meet. Josh Hennig recorded second-place finishes in both the 200 (23.29) and 400 (48.68), while anchoring runner-up legs in the 4-x-100 (43.05) and 4-x-400 (3:21.29) relays. Other individuals coming home second included Josh Blome in the pole vault (13' 11 1/4"); Matt Hill in the 3,000-steeplechase (9:53.91); Nic Keller in the discus (138' 5"); and Lucas Schulthies in the javelin (154' 4").
Rose-Hulman will host its own Twilight Meet on Friday April 21 in preparation for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships at Anderson on April 28-29.
