TACOMA, Wash.--- The Pacific Lutheran University Men's track and field team comfortably sits in first after the first day of events at the PLU Spring Invitational, earning numerous first-place finishes and fast times to open the meet.
 
Kellen Meade carded the Lutes first win of the day in the 100-meter dash, as his time of 11.19-seconds bested fellow Lutes Steele Swinton and LeBron Smith by only a few tenths of a second. Swinton and Smith took second and fourth, respectively. Meade returned to the track later, earning another top finish in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 22.49-seconds, beating out a pair of runners from Puget Sound.
 
Distance runner Kai Sorensen showed his dual-sport talent in the 800-meter run, taking first by an eight-second margin, running a 1:52.77. Reigning NWC champion, Grady Lemma, cruised to marking the fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing in 54.88-seconds to earn the Lutes ten points for the team.
 
Stefans Lusis notched the Lutes fastest time in the 5,000-meter run, taking third out of 16 athletes with a time of 15:43.52. The team of Seth Kramer, Sorensen, Swinton, and Meade led the way in the 4x400-meter relay, taking the top spot by just two-tenths of a second over Green River. Ryan Stracke and Owen Ladinig competed as the only two athletes in the 10,000-meter run, with Stracke taking first with a time of 30:39.97.
 
Aidan Donnelly tied for second in the pole vault, alongside one athlete from UPS, both notching marks of 3.95-meters to be the best finishers from Division III. Nathan Atkinson leaped over his competitors in the high jump, recording a best leap of 1.86-meters on his way to first. The second Meade brother, Connor Meade, beat out Kellen in the triple jump, with Connor's 13.09-meter jump earning him second place; meanwhile Kellen took fourth with a best of 12.06-meters.
 
Micah Ragaza-Bourassa earned a third-place finish in the hammer throw, as his 49.98-meter best was the highest by a Division III athlete on Friday; beating out teammate Gavin Hawley who took fifth with a throw of 40-meters.
 
"It was a good start to the meet today. Kai ran a great 800m today and is running really well, and our sprints group is continuing to build." Said Head Track & Field Coach Trey Henderson.

"Conference will be here quick so we have to make sure we are taken advantage of our competitive opportunities. Looking forward to a strong day tomorrow to finish the meet in the throws."

DAY TWO

With just the throwing events left to close out the final home meet of the season for the Lutes, George Sonko got the Lutes started in the discus. Sonko took first with a best of 43.85-meters, over one-meter further than the second-place finisher. Wangyu Yeeming earned fourth-place with a throw of 35.53-meters. 

A pair of Lutes dominated the javelin throw, with Darius Chaffin commanding a winning margin of over five-meters with his 59.36-meter throw. Meanwhile his teammate on both the Track & Field team, but also the Football team, Connor Meade earned third-place with a best throw of 50.19-meters.

Four Lutes placed in the shot put, with Griffin Montana taking second-place with a throw of 13.80-meters, just passing Sonko who threw 13.79-meters. Micah Ragaza-Bourassa took sixth with 13.27-meters and Gavin Hawley in ninth with 11.46-meters.
 
The Lutes will keep the spring season rolling into next weekend at cross-town rival Puget Sound, competing in the Puget Sound Invitational.

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