The Aurora University men's track and field team had a strong showing at the Tadd Metzger Invitational hosted by Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The men's team finishing second out of 8 teams with 122.5 points. The team had 11 personal records and 2 season bests that added up to 2 event champions and 21 place winners. The sprint/jump crew took the meet by storm, having 14 athletes score in the seven combined events.

On the track Montez Wright and Akeem Haye led the charge. Wright scored 3rd place in the 55m dash and 200m dash. Haye took 2nd in the 55 and 4th in the 200. Ethan Edwards, Khadeil Ergas, Nick Brosman, and Robbie Peterson Jr. also all had top 15 performances that show the true depth of the group.

The jumpers took full advantage of every opportunity they had especially in the Long Jump as the AU jumps crew placed 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 7th. Montez Wright had a collegiate PR finishing in 1^st place. He was well supported by teammate, Peter Rudelich who finished 2nd, also with a collegiate best performance. Leighton Burcham and Jerrell Mays finished out the group of jumpers who qualified for finals. Preston Tobin and Eli Grundman took 1st and 2nd in the Pole Vault, after some rough opening heights, they rebounded very well to clear the bar with ease. Finally, in the Triple Jump, Freshman Robbie Peterson Jr. had a very consistent performance to finish in 2nd place with his mark of 44'8.

The distance runners showed a lot of courage by running with a lot of grit. Most doubled to show the true heart of a champion. Jeremiah Cooley performed well in the daunting Mile/800 double, finishing 2nd in the Mile, then coming back shortly after to still break 2:00 in the 800 for a 3rd place finish. Bryce Batts, Cormac Deitz, Chris Turner, and Jacob Hernandez performed well also by pushing the pace in the Mile after some solid pack running to start the race. Nick Valle finished top 10 in the 3K running a PR.

Jalen Cole led the throwers with a PR of 13.73m (45'1") to place him 3rd overall and move up to 2nd place in the NACC Conference standings. Dylan Whisenant also had a consistent performance to throw 13.43m (44') and remain ranked 3rd in the conference.

Next up for the Spartan men's track and field team is Saturday, February 8 when they travel to Naperville, Illinois for The NCC Invite hosted by North Central College.