The Aurora University men's track and field team had a strong showing at the NCC Invite hosted by North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. The Spartan men finished fourth overall, out of the 11 schools that competed.

Freshman Robbie Peterson won the men's triple jump and set an AU school record in the process! His hop, step, and jump traveled 14.13 meters (46'4) and currently ranks him first in the conference and is tied for 24th in the nation.

The jumps crew had many strong marks early and often throughout the day. Robbie Peterson went on to place fourth in the High Jump, as teammate Peter Rudelich took second place overall with a clearance of 1.94 meters (6'4.25"). All six of AU's long jumpers placed in the top 18 out of the nearly 40 whom competed. The jumpers were led by Montez Wright (fourth), Peter Rudelich (fifth), and Aaron Stallworth (sixth). Montez and Peter's jumps landed them sixth and eighth place on the All-Time list in the AU Record book respectively. Jerrell Mays & Leighton Burcham also had solid attempts.
On the track, the distance crew welcomed back Brandon Estrada to the oval. Brandon had a solid day by running strong in the 3000m along with running a leg on one of AU's three 4x400 meter relay teams. Jacob Hernandez had another strong outing as well by finishing with a lifetime best of 4:33.97 in the indoor mile as well as also contributing to the 4x400 meter relay team.

The throwers had a fantastic day as all four threw a personal best mark in one out of the two events they competed in. Led by freshman Dylan Whisenant in the Shot Put, his mark of 13.61 meters (44'8") earned a sixth place finish. Johnathan Gramme's toss of 11.50 meters (37' 9") was also his best throw of the indoor season as well. Jalen Cole took eighth place in the shot put with 13.13 meters (43"1) and had a season best toss in the weight throw along with fellow freshman Ian Withrow.

The sprinters had very consistent performances throughout the entire day led by Sophomore Jalen Kyles. Jalen ran a total of six races and sprinkled his name throughout the AU record book as four of his marks were personal lifetime best performances. His performance in the 60 meter high hurdles earned him fifth place. His lifetime best mark of 7.08 in the 60 meter dash earned him a sixth place finish and sixth place in the AU record book. Last but not least, his mark of 22.59 seconds in the 200 meter dash landed him fourth in AU history, second in the NACC Conference, and in the top 50 in the nation! Montez Wright joined in the fun of the 60 and 200 double by placing seventh and fourth to round out AU's place winners in the events. Other notable results came from Ethan Edwards in the 400, Nick Brosman in the 200, Khadeil Ergas in the 60, and Eric Teverbaugh in the 60 and 200.

The men's 4x400 meter relay ended the meet on a very strong note. The quartet of Akeem Haye, Jeremiah Cooley, Jacob Hernandez, and Montez Wright dropped five seconds from their previous best time to finish in 3:29.58, which currently has them ranked first in the NACC Conference.

Next up for the Spartan men's track and field team is Saturday, February 22nd when they travel to Chicago, Illinois for The Margaret Bradley Invite hosted by The University of Chicago.