The Blackburn men’s indoor track team competed in the Principia College Opener on Saturday, January 28, to open its indoor season and made history by becoming the first Blackburn track team ever to compete in the SLIAC era and the first to compete for Blackburn in thirty years. Blackburn was one of twenty-one teams to compete.

Blackburn was led by its two experienced track athletes, junior Hayden Fox and freshman Tate Kunzeman. Fox raced in the fastest heat of the 500 meters and turned in a strong time of 1:17.97. However, the junior multi-sport athlete fell less than a meter from the finish line, which prevented him from an even faster time and finishing multiple places higher. Kunzeman, competing in his first college race, completed the 300 meters with a strong performance of his own at 39.78. Fox will specialize in the 800 meters this season, while Kunzeman will focus on the 400 meters, and the Principia opener was a good opportunity to race at a shorter distance against top competition.

Three other Blackburn men competed in their first indoor track meets ever and turned in impressive performances of their own. Freshman Landan Tribble and sophomore Marco Nova ran the 500 meters in 1:21.41 and 1:27.79, respectively, while freshman Luke Bell competed in his first ever mile run in 6:15.01. All three are multi-sport athletes who have tremendous potential as they begin their track careers.

Coach Al Sturgeon said, “I am so proud of our men’s team. Hayden and Tate are our leaders, and they got off to a strong start with much more to come. And I really didn’t know what to expect from Landan, Luke, and Marco, and I was very encouraged by their initial performances.”

The indoor team will compete again at the Jim Green Invite in Jacksonville, Illinois, next weekend at Illinois College.