Mustangs Shine at Grinnell Invite with Strong Performances

GRINNELL, Iowa - Mount Mercy's men's indoor track and field team closed out the weekend competing at the Grinnell Invite.

In the 60m dash, Breon Wade secured second place with a time of 6.85 seconds, improving on his preliminary time and finishing just 0.02 seconds shy of the 'B' qualifying standard for nationals. In the 400m dash, Noah Valenzuela finished in fourth place with a time of 52.47 seconds, while Ty Costigan placed ninth at 54.50 seconds. Brady Cortez took sixth place in the 800m run, clocking in at 2:01.92.

The Mustangs also found success in the distance events. In the one-mile run, Jonathan Williams placed fourth with a time of 4:44.92. Lukas Lamparek secured third place in the 3000m run with a time of 8:55.40, followed by Dylan Bledsoe in fifth at 9:01.94.

Mount Mercy's relay teams delivered impressive performances. The 4x200m relay team—Keegan Thompson, Baylor Speidel, Noah Valenzuela, and BJ Huggins—claimed the title with a time of 1:32.52. The 4x400m relay team, consisting of Jordan Schroeder, Ceonde Adams, Nate Keiper, and Breon Wade, also took first place with a time of 3:24.79.

The 1600 Sprint Medley team—Nate Keiper, Chris Canas, BJ Huggins, and Trevor Leitheiser—finished fourth with a time of 3:51.46. In the distance medley, Mount Mercy took third and fourth place. Brady Cortez, Keegan Thompson, Jordan Schroeder, and Ryan Mitchell ran a time of 10:41.12 to claim third, while Quinn Swift, Baylor Speidel, Ty Costigan, and Lukas Lamparek placed fourth with a time of 11:00.97.

In the field events, Ky Kaufmann finished seventh in the long jump with a mark of 6.05m. Omar Salinas took fifth place in the shot put with a throw of 13.77m, while teammate Alex Paulson placed 11th with a mark of 12.69m. Salinas was also Mount Mercy's top finisher in the weight throw, recording a toss of 14.27m for 11th place.

Grinnell won the meet with 135.5 points, followed by William Penn (113), Monmouth (89), Illinois College (81), and Mount Mercy (68), rounding out the top five.

The Mustangs will return to action on February 7th as they travel to Waverly, Iowa, for the Knight Lights Meet and to Romeoville, Illinois, for the Lewis Invite.