The Bluffton University Track and Field team kicked off the 2020 indoor season at the Findlay Open on a rainy Saturday, Jan. 11.

Showing off on the distance side was freshman Max Chandler (Liberty Township/Lakota East) who had a terrific race for his first-ever 3k! Chandler came in 7th with a time of 9:40. "He was very aggressive and confident," stated Coach Wells. Another great performance came from senior Bailie Barrington (Waynesfield/Waynesfield-Goshen) in the mile race. She placed 5th in a field of 12 with a time of 5:44. Barrington also qualified for the conference meet.

Freshman Caitlyn Renner (Cairo/Bath) and sophomore Brandon James (Waynesfield/Waynesfield-Goshen) both qualified for the conference meet in the 60-meter hurdles. Renner finished with a time of 9.79 seconds while James crossed the line in 9.12 seconds. Renner and James also qualified for the Heartland Conference meet in the long jump. Renner jumped 4.72 meters and James went 6.27 meters for a PR which put him 4th in the field.

James also won the triple jump with a distance of 12.55 meters which qualified him for the conference meet. In the pole vault competition, senior Justin Kauffman (Smithville/Smithville) cleared a height of 4.17 meters set him up for the conference meet as he placed 4th at Findlay.

"As a whole, we had a good start coming off of Christmas break. The team competed exactly as expected. We are excited about the work we get to do moving forward in the next few weeks. This just shows great things to come," stated Coach Jachno as she reflected on the meet.

The Beavers will head to Tiffin University for the Tiffin Dragon Open on Saturday, Jan. 18. The meet is slated to start at noon.