ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Hamline men's track and field team opened the outdoor portion of their season with a home meet, competing against student-athletes from Augsburg, Northwestern, and St. Thomas on Saturday morning at Klas Field.
 
The Pipers had seven different student-athletes win an event throughout the meet, with 19 performances within the top-three. Overall, HU had strong performances in all areas of competition between sprints, hurdles, distance, jumps, and throws.
 
Junior Zach Angstman and senior McKail Hertzog finished 1-2 in the 110-meter hurdles, with Angstman finishing in 16.56 and Hertzog finishing in 18.67.
 
First year Bobby Moua had a pair of top-three finishes in the sprinting events, taking second in the 200-meter dash (23.35) and third in the 100 (11.54). Both events had fields of 10 or more. Sophomore Josh Peterson was close behind in each of those races, finishing fourth in the 100 with a time of 11.66 and third in the 200 with a time of 23.44. First year Tae'Vion Wilkins placed sixth in the 100 (11.91) and first year Jake Chilson placed sixth in the 200 (24.29).
 
In the 400-meter race, senior Matt Lorah came in second, with a time of 53.68. In the 1500-meter run, the Pipers recorded three finishes within the top-five, including having the winner in junior Aric Brodie, who finished in 4:13.04, which was 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Junior Tyler Gallagher placed third (4:39.10) and first year Michael Motzko placed fifth (4:44.95).
 
Hamline had the only two competitors in the 5000-meter run, with senior Fernando Benitez finishing in 15:11.54 and Jeremy Davie finishing in 17.33.63.
 
The Pipers entered a team in the 4x400 relay, with Chilson, Carter Kienholz, Lorah, and Raul Ortiz teaming up to defeat the team from Augsburg by finishing in 3:38.06.
 
In the long jump, first year Michael Braun came away with a win, jumping 6.30 meters. The Pipers had all four competitors in the high jump, as senior Christian Velishek topped the field with a jump of 1.93 meters. Braun was next with a mark of 1.88 meters, followed by senior Jarick Rieffer (1.78) and Sam Dabrowski (1.63). Velishek also placed second in the javelin in the meet with a distance of 47.25 meters.
 
First year Josh Lynch was victorious in the pole vault, topping three student-athletes from Northwestern with a height of 3.95 meters.
 
In the hammer, senior Dylan Rioux finished third out of seven with a distance of 40.60 meters. The Pipers had two compete in the discus, with first year Elliot Lee placing fifth (34.65 meters) and first year Connor Prok placing sixth (32.10).
 
The Pipers will compete again next week, heading to Saint John's for a Friday meet. Please note that this is a change from the original schedule.