Sixteen teams competed on a stormy Saturday at the Greenville University Select Meet on April 15, and the Blackburn men’s team turned in a solid performance in their last meet before the SLIAC outdoor championships on April 29. The meet included a weather delay, and when the meet concluded the Beavers finished fifth among the six SLIAC teams that participated in the meet.

Junior Hayden Fox and freshman Tate Kunzeman led the way for Blackburn. Fox participated in the 400-meter hurdles for the first time ever and turned in the fifth best time in the SLIAC outdoor season (1:08.09), while Kunzeman ran the 200 meters for the first time this season and won his heat easily with an impressive 23.96. Three other Blackburn men also had good performances: Locke Hord in the 800 meters (2:15.91); Marco Nova in the 400 meters (1:04.78; and Will Teig in the 200 meters (25.26). Kunzeman, Fox, Teig, and Hord finished the day with a strong 4 x 400 relay time of 3:45.09.

Coach Al Sturgeon said, “It was an interesting weather day, but in the end all five of our men had a good day. Tate [Kunzeman] really had a great race, and I was glad that Hayden [Fox] got in a good, strong, and clean run in his first-ever attempt at a super-challenging race in the 400 hurdles. Locke wasn’t at his strongest but still ran a strong time, while Will and Marco had good days as well. We can now turn our attention to the championships!”

The SLIAC Outdoor Championships will be back at Greenville on Saturday, April 29.