Head coach Zach Kindler said his goal for the men’s and women’s track teams was to place in the top three at conference, and that’s exactly what the teams did.
The women’s team grabbed a second-place finish while the men’s team came in third. In addition, Kindler was awarded HAAC Co-Coach of the Year honors on the women’s side.
This is only Kindler’s third year with the team, but his second year grabbing the coach of the year title.
“It was a surprise,” Kindler said. “Obviously, it’s just a benefit of coaching two great teams and just having the athletes there that are putting forth the work.”
On the men’s side it was senior Aaron Hannon who grabbed the spotlight. Hannon was recognized during the awards ceremony for scoring the most points at the meet. During the two-day meet, Hannon scored fourth in javelin, second in long jump, third in 110-meter hurdles, fourth in the 400-meter hurdles and third in pole vault.
Hannon is also a member of the 4×100-meter relay team that won conference and ran a time of 41.29 seconds, which gives it a ranking of No. 4 in the nation.
“I never really thought, coming in this year, that we would be anywhere close to that ranking,” Hannon said. “I knew that we were going to have a fast 4×1 team, but I didn’t really ever expect being fourth in the nation.”
Kindler said the ranking is a great accomplishment for the Baker track and field program and Baker athletics overall.
“For a lot of people that don’t understand track and field, to be fourth in the nation and to have that team at Baker University is a very, very impressive ordeal,” Kindler said.
Other standouts on the men’s side included freshman Travis Miller, who grabbed a first-place finish in the high jump. Junior Tanner Gleason finished first in the decathlon. In addition, freshman Jeremiah May took second in the javelin.
On the women’s side, Kindler said the women competed far beyond his expectations.
“It was something that I knew that we had a pretty good team coming in, but I didn’t realize that we were going to be able to put together a two-day meet like they did,” Kindler said. “They went out and just did everything beyond what we thought they were capable of and really just had a terrific meet.”
Highlighting the women’s performance was freshman Devin Freeman, who took first in the 10,000-meter run. Junior Mary Loveland, Baker Orange online creative projects editor, grabbed a second-place finish in both the 5,000-meter run and the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Also, junior Aubree Gustin grabbed a first-place finish in the javelin.
“I was happy with what I did,” Gustin said. “I got first and it was my second year in a row, so that was pretty cool.”
The teams have two remaining meets before they head to Edwardsville, Ill., for the NAIA Outdoor Championships.
