The Rhodes Men's Track & Field team competed at home this past weekend at the Rhodes 7-Way Meet, delivering a strong overall performance highlighted by personal bests, season bests, and multiple top finishes across event groups.
Sprints & Hurdles
Rhodes saw strong performances in the sprint events, led by Clayton Wentworth, who placed fourth in the 100 meters (11.34) and third in the 200 meters (22.87). Aaron Champion made his collegiate debut in the 100 meters, recording a personal best of 11.52.
In the 400 meters, Sumay Frueh (51.80) and Mark Hanson (52.54) led the group, while Nathan Copeland added a personal best performance of 54.83.
Senior Bryce Tuchner highlighted the hurdles group with a second-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, and a first-place, season's best finish in the 400-meter hurdles (56.64). With the victory, Tuchner secured his third consecutive win in the 400-meter hurdles at this meet.
Distance Highlights
The middle-distance group turned in one of the top performances of the meet in the 800 meters, where Mercer Murphy (1:57.32) and Collin Dillingham (1:57.76) placed second and third, with Murphy recording a personal best. Wright McManus added a 2:04.56.
McManus also competed in the 1500 meters, finishing in 4:13.73.
In the 5000 meters, Owen Foster led Rhodes with a time of 16:48.05, followed by Jack Hinds (16:58.55), Jack Herman (17:15.94), and Max Barcan (17:19.41).
Sophomore Ian McCormack added a third-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:26.50.
Field Events
Rhodes continued to show depth in the field events with several strong performances.
Devin Caddle placed second in the high jump, clearing 1.75m, and also added a fourth-place finish in the javelin (35.97m). Jordan Alexander led the javelin group with a second-place finish and a throw of 38.04m.
In the horizontal jumps, Mark Hanson recorded a personal best in the long jump (6.30m), followed closely by Sumay Frueh (6.25m), while Nathan Copeland added a mark of 5.71m. Copeland also placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 12.22m, while Frueh followed with an 11.97m jump.
Freshman Will Crimm recorded personal bests across all three throwing events, with marks of 9.57m in the shot put, 27.46m in the discus, and 27.98m in the hammer.
Relays
The Rhodes relay teams continued to perform well, with the 4x100 relay team of Clayton Wentworth, Blake Coogan, Sumay Frueh, and Mark Hanson placing second in a season's best time of 43.31.
The 4x400 relay team of Nathan Copeland, Collin Dillingham, Mercer Murphy, and Clayton Wentworth also placed second with a time of 3:37.73.
With momentum building across every event group, Rhodes now turns its full attention to the championship stage as the team enters the final stretch of the season prepared to compete at its highest level, ready to convert a season of steady progress and strong performances into results when it matters most.
NEXT MEET: A select group will travel to Harding ahead of the SAA Conference Track & Field Championships, set for April 24–25 at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, where the Lynx will look to deliver their strongest performances of the season when it matters most.
