The Hope College men's track & field team claimed two league titles and established three new school records in another event en route to a third-place finish at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Indoor Championships on Saturday at Trine.
Freshman Zackary Murphy of Coldwater, Michigan (Coldwater HS) beat three Calvin College runner to the finish line in the 800 meters.
Murphy clocked a winning time of 2 minutes, 00.32 seconds — finishing two-tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Noah Buteyn of Calvin.
The Flying Dutchmen took first in the distance medley relay. Senior Andrew Kalthoff of Carmel, Indiana (Carmel), senior Brandon Wolliston of Remus, Michigan (Chippewa Hills), junior Collin Thomas of Novi, Michigan (Novi), and senior Benjamin Pederson of Mount Prospect, Illinois (Prospect) clocked a top time of 10:39.9.
Junior Justin Freeman of Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa) set a school record in the 60-meter dash with a runner-up time of 6.99 seconds.
Junior pole vaulter Ben Turner of Albion, Michigan (Olivet) came in fourth after clearing a school-record 4.30 meters (14 feet, 4 ¼).
Hope's 4x400 relay clocked a school-record effort with freshman Terrell Solberg of Traverse City, Michigan (Central), Wolliston, junior Eddie Ip of Grand Rapids, Michigan (South Christian) and senior Matt Ruff of Wayne, Illinois (Wheaton Academy) going 3:24.87 for second place.
Hope's 4x400 relay clocked a school-record effort with Solberg, Wolliston, junior Eddie Ip of Grand Rapids, Michigan (South Christian) and Ruff going 3:24.87 for second place.
"They had a great meet," head coach Kevin Cole said. "They took third against some really good competition. Our conference is tough. They kept pushing and picking up points here and there. They had a few events where they scored a lot of points and started moving ahead of teams at the end."
Wolliston was runner-up in the 400 meters by clocking a time of 50.19 seconds. Ruff placed fourth at 50.67. Solberg was fifth at 50.92.
High jumpers Brandon Maurice of Howell, New Jersey (Howell) and Joshua Izenbart of Glenwood, Illinois (Homewood-Flossmoor) tied for third by clearing 1.90 meters (6-2 3/4).
Two Hope runners scored in the 3,000 meters: senior Jacob Jansen of Johnston, Iowa (Johnston) in fourth at 9:02.29 and sophomore Nathan Schloff of Holland, Michigan (Holland Christian) in seventh at 9:17.83.
Two other Hope runners scored in the 800 meters: sophomore Brenden Jones of Holland, Michigan (Black River) in fifth at 2:02.11, and Thomas in seventh at 2:02.79.
Freeman was one of three Flying Dutchmen to score in the 60-meter dash. He was joined by sophomore Korey Derr of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Northview) in fourth at 7.07 seconds and sophomore Emmanuel Harinda of Holland, Michigan (Holland) in the seventh at 7.16.
Triple jumper Tucker Gibbons of Fowlerville, Michigan (Fowlerville) took sixth with a leap of 12.79 meters (41-11 1/2).
Pederson finished seventh in the 1-mile run at 4:35.88.
Ruff came in seventh in the 200 meters with a time of 23.3 seconds.
Team standings
1) Calvin 173.5
2) Trine 145
3) Hope 100
4) Albion 79
5) Adrian 65.5
6) Olivet 32
7) Alma 24
