May 2, 2025

Knights Dominate Crossroads League Championships With New Meet Record

Marion, Ind. - The Marian men's track and field team captured their fifth consecutive Crossroads League Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Friday, as the Knights breezed past the competition in a one-sided title defense. Marian's championship is their 10th outdoor title in program history.

Marian's day one point total came from a heavy dose of field events, scoring 10 points with Armani Glass' win in the long jump, as the senior scored a B standard with his 7.30m distance, setting a new Marian school record. Marko Brajovic finished second in the long jump, and Amarion Sanders finished third to give the Knights each of the podium finishes. Robert Nabieu would finish seventh, giving Marian 26 points in the event. The Knights then scored 24 points in the shot put, as Christian Rios won the event with an A standard distance of 16.83m. Javian Jones finishesd second with a personal best throw, Darian Dixon placed fifth, and Markevious Keys finished seventh.

The Knights scored another 21 points in the discus, with Rios earning the win with a 52.29m. Brady Betustak finished third in the discus to join on the podium, and Dixon finished fourth in the event. Brennan La Belle finished sixth in the pole vault scoring three points, and in the high jump, Gunner Kovach's win gave Marian an additional 10 team points. Kovach qualified for the NAIA Championships with his 2.06m height. Victor Dailey, Van Lian, and Jordan Pohl finished a respective second, fourth, and fifth place, scoring 17 more points for the Knights.

On the track, Marian's highlight of day one came from the 4x800m relay, as the Knights' team of Tristan Trevino, Benjamin Riehle, Rick Williams, and Mason Piatt set an NAIA National Record, clocking a time of 7:24.50. The time broke the Marian school record by four seconds, the meet record by six second, and the national record by 1.5 seconds. Clark Chustz scored eight points with his second place effort in the 10000m, ending Marian's day one total 120 points.

Marian's day one points total was enough to win the Crossroads League Championship, as the next closest final score at the conclusion of the meet on Friday would be Indiana Wesleyan's 119 point total.

The second day of the meet saw Marian continue to excel, with Marian adding to their totals in the three field events. Van Lian won the triple jump with a 13.74m distance, while Jake Grangier, Armani Glass, and Jordan Pohl finished three through five in the final standings. Christian Rios won the hammer throw with an NAIA A standard mark of 61.95m, and teammates Sam Runholt and Markevious Keys joined Rios on the podium with second and third place finishes. Brady Betustak finished sixth in the hammer, giving Marian a total of 52 points between the two events.

Felipe Mentz totaled 10 points for the team score, finishing as the runner-up in the decathlon and seventh in the javelin. Michael Runions and Peyton Doty scored four total points for Marian with their sixth and eighth place efforts in the decathlon.

On the track, Marian's Friday racers turned in several top marks, scoring 19 points in the 100m finals with Jeremiah Brown's runner-up finish leading the charge. Olivier Lifrange scored in the 100 and led Marian in the 200m, putting in a B standard time of 21.17 in the event alongside his fourth-place finish. Eric Materna and Eli Givens also placed in the 200m, totaling 11 points in the event. Materna then put on a display in the 400m, winning the event with a meet and Marian record of 46.17 seconds. Materna's efforts led Marian to 22 total points in the event, as Raif Miller, Tre Jones, and Eli Givens each finished in the top eight.

Andrew McDade ran a personal best time in the 800m as he finished fourth, while teammates Rick Williams and Mason Piatt finished fifth and seventh in the event. Tristan Trevino clocked a third place finish in the 1500m, helping lead teammates Charles Leedke and Owen Pittman into the top-eight as the duo finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Leedke finished sevnth in the 5000m, putting two more points on the board for the Knights.

Caleb Carter picked up a point with his eighth place finish in the 110m hurdles, and Richard Dube scored a second place finish in the 400m hurdles. Nick Frank scored fourth in the 3000m steeplechase, and Lucas Steward finished eighth, capping the individual scoring on the day.

Marian's final points came from the relay races, with Marian's 4x100m relay team of Jeremiah Brown, Ricardo Mateo, Jonathon Phillips, and Will Osafo finishing second with a 40.31 time, while the 4x400m relay team of Richard Dube, Amarion Sanders, Tre Jones, and Raif Miller gave the Knights a victory with a 3:12.15 time.

The final scoring on Friday gave Marian a total of 294 points, setting a new meet record. The new record breaks the team's previous league record set a season ago, when Marian scored 269 points. Marian's victory is the largest margin of victory in league history. The Knights set four different meet records, with Jeremiah Brown setting the 100m record with his 10.30 prelim time, while Materna set the 400m record. Marian's 4x800m and 4x400m relay teams also set meet records.

Additionally, Marian set seven school records over the two days. Brown, Lifrange, and Materna broke the school records for the 100m, 200m, and 400m, respectively, and Felipe Mentz set the school's decathlon record. Both the 4x100m and 4x800m relay times set new Marian records, and Armani Glass broke the school long jump record.