The Aurora University men's track team had a strong season opener on Saturday at the Phoenix Invitational, crisply hosted by the University of Chicago at their Henry Crown Field House.  The vast majority of the competitors were sprinters, jumpers, throwers, hurdlers, and vaulters, as the distance runners will debut next weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

In the high jump, junior co-captain Loren Iwanicki delivered the finest Spartan performance of the day.  His leap of 2.01 meters (6 feet, 7 inches) is a new school record and currently the fourth best in all of Division III this winter. After a sophomore campaign highlighted by occasional brilliance, Iwanicki has become a rock-solid consistent performer in his junior year.

Spartans took second in all three sprints, and took home a victory in the 200 meters. Junior Wade Robinson ran 6.59 seconds (No. 23 in DIII, No. 2 in school history) for second in the 55 meters, and won the 200 in 23.56 seconds, good for No. 6 in school history and a personal best. Robinson narrowly piped teammate Tyron Pitchford by just 0.05 seconds in the 200.

Terry Moore's second place time of 52.48 seconds in the 400 was one of three stellar Spartan freshman debuts. His classmate Chad Hensley won both throws: he launched the shot put 13.14m (43-1.5) and flung the weight throw 12.53 (41-1.5). Both distances are the eighth best in their respective event in AU history. And Deven Thompson jumped 6.29m (20-7.75) for second in the long jump; that mark is the fourth best in school history.

The Spartans return to competition on Saturday, January 18 at the Karl Schlender Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.