by Mackenzie McMahon
Third place finishes led the Hope College men's track and field team at the Calvin University Spring Thing meet on Thursday. The orange and blue racked up five third places finishes.
Among those handful of third place finishes was junior Jackson Player (San Antonio, Texas / Winston Churchill HS) in the 110 meter hurdles. Player clocked a time of 16.44 seconds for a podium finish.
Nathan Trumble (Granger, Indiana / Trinity School At Greenlawn) in the 400 meter dash grabbed another third place finish, with a time of 50.69 for Hope. David McHugh clocked in at 51.19 for fourth place in the 400 meters.
In the 800 meter run, the Flying Dutchmen claimed the top three finishing spots. Senior Nick Hoffman (Holland, Michigan / Holland) finished in 1:54.62 to get first place, freshman Connor Vachon (Jenison, Michigan / Jenison) earned second place with a 1:56.29 time, while junior Eli Meder (Williamston, Michigan / Lansing Catholic) had a time of 1:57.30 for third place.
Pictured, from left, Nick Hoffman, Connor Vachon
In the long jump, Aidan Kyle (Weston, Connectiuct / Weston) soared to third place with a distance of 5.85 meters. Case VanderZee (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian) grabbed fourth place, recording a 5.75 meter jump.
In the pole vault for the Flying Dutchmen was Zach Elmore. The junior from Cadillac, Michigan (Cadillac) came in third place, jumping up to 4.35 meters.
Hope College track and field competes again on Friday-Saturday, April 22-23 at Grand Valley State University.