COLUMBIA, S.C.— The Montreat men's track and field team registered an outstanding team performance at the CIU Rams Invitational over the weekend by besting national qualifying standards and breaking school records in the squad's initial meet of the outdoor season.
 
On Friday, the men competed in a pair of field events, the javelin and the hammer throw. In the first contest, Joel Simpson (43.80m) and Caleb Wells (43.30m) led a group of six Montreat competitors by finishing second and third, respectively. Brady Roth then just fell short of the school record in the hammer throw, launching his implement 43.31m to end second.
 
The Cavs' attention then shifted to the track as Wyatt Wilson bested the school record in the 5,000m racewalk. Wilson walked over one minute faster than the previous record, concluding the event in 28:58.00, good enough for second.
 
Competing in his first event for the Cavaliers, newcomer Ruchen Blaauw made an immediate impact, crushing the school record in the 1,500m race by over five seconds to win the competition with a time of 3:52.31. Blaauw's time also met the NAIA "A" standard to qualify for nationals. The Cape Town, South Africa native added another outstanding race in the 800m. Blaauw narrowly missed the national "B" standard, running a 1:54.71 to claim second.
 
In the sprinting events, Davian Willis-Howard notched third in the 110m hurdles (15.11 seconds), while Dustin Blevins captured fourth in the 100m dash (11.18 seconds). Hank Yelton ended in third in the 400m hurdles, finishing the race in 57.49 seconds. Aidan Reyna closed out the top-5 results on the track with a fifth-place effort in the 3,000m steeplechase (10:52.47).
 
Concluding the meet in the field on Saturday, JaJa Davis launched the shot put an NAIA "A" standard distance of 16.00m to win the event. Davis added a fifth-place showing in the discus as well with a throw of 39.95m. Jonathan Pehot and Gregory Curry II tallied top-3 results in the long jump as the former propelled himself 6.76m to end second, and the latter jumped 6.71m in the air for third. Micah Matheson led four Cavs in the pole vault, clearing 4.20m to place second, while Davis Nicol (3.85m) ended third. Caleb Wells (3.35m) and Edward McClellan (3.35m) also competed.
 
For the full results from the CIU Rams Invitational, click here.
 
Men's track & field now hosts the Montreat College Invitational, which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Pulliam Stadium.