ST. PAUL, Minn. - Thursday afternoon, the University of Northwestern Men's Track and Field team took the track at St. Thomas for their Easter Invite. Last week, the Eagles were pushed to new speeds amidst the perfect track weather. This meet, however, the weather proved to be a hindrance with strong winds and threatening storms.

Despite the wind, the Eagles started the meet with a bang, finding a one-two finish in the 3000-meter Steeplechase. Bennett Selfridge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) took the win with a time of 11:09.39, while teammate Nate Moser (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) grabbed second with a time of 11:34.86.

In the 1500-meter race, UNW had three runners who crossed the finish line in 15th, 17th, and 19th place. Joshua Ringsmuth (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) led the Eagles' charge, turning in a 4:26.73 finish, followed by Samuel Otis (Shoreview, Minn./Homeschool) and Owen Van De Riet (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) clocking times of 4:33.70 and 4:38.46, respectively.

The lone Eagle in the field, Will Dorch (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens), jumped in the long jump event for the first time this season. After leaping a distance of 5.47 meters (17'11.5"), the senior then also raced in the 200-meter dash. Placing 13th overall, he turned in a time of 23.48 seconds. Dorch didn't stop with those two events as he also competed in the 100-meter dash, finishing first in his heat. He stopped the clock at 11.67 seconds for a 15th-place overall finish.  After the final heat of the 100, Peter Kephart (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) and Selfridge prepared to take the track for their two-lap event. In the 800, Kephart and Selfridge notched a back-to-back finish with one second separating them. Kephart took the edge with a 2:14.46 time, while Selfridge finished with a time of 2:15.44.

The Men's team will be back in action for the Gary Wilson Invitational at the University of Minnesota on April 23rd starting at 9:45 AM.