NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Elmhurst University men's track and field team would compete at the F. Lee Slick Invite on Friday night (Feb.21st). 

It was a day of remarkable achievements and personal bests at the track and field meet, with athletes shattering their lifetime records across various events. Gino Orestano kicked things off in spectacular fashion, setting a new lifetime personal record (PR) in the 60m with a blazing time of 7.39. He didn't stop there, as he also notched another lifetime PR in the 200m, clocking in at 25.01. Zaiden Smith showed in the 200m as well, setting his own PR with a time of 23.61, while Sebastian Palafox achieved a lifetime best of 25.69 in the same event.

The distance runners also put on a show, with Nicholas Williams leading the pack in the Mile by setting a new PR at 4:33.10. David Valkanov followed closely behind, smashing his PR with a time of 4:34.25. Eric Martinez continued the trend, clocking a new lifetime best of 4:35.04. Caleb DeBoer (4:38.70), Christian Gleba (4:43.80), and Brandon Pounders (4:49.79) each broke their own records in the event, showcasing an impressive level of consistency and improvement across the team.

Jaedon Thompson had a standout performance in multiple events. He placed 9th in the 60m hurdles with a lifetime PR of 9.55, and later cleared 3.00m in the Pole Vault for another PR. Thompson also excelled in the Long Jump, leaping to a new personal best of 6.37m to finish 7th. The field events saw additional outstanding efforts, with TJ Ellison placing 5th in the High Jump, reaching a new lifetime PR of 1.93m. Logan Turney soared to 2nd place in the Pole Vault with a new PR of 4.80m, while Kayton Garrett claimed 3rd place in the Long Jump with a personal best of 6.89m.

The Triple Jump was another area of success, as Rickey Martinez earned 2nd place with a mark of 13.90m, followed by Kayton Garrett in 3rd with 13.40m. Braxton Mitchell joined the PR streak by placing 9th with a jump of 12.83m. The 4x400m relay team, composed of Isaac Marcero, Chris Marroquin, Shawn Woodall, and Zaiden Smith, capped off the day with a 7th-place finish in 3:37.47.

UP NEXT

The Bluejays are back in action at the CCIW Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 28th- Mar. 1st. 

FOLLOW THE BLUEJAYS

Be sure to keep up with all Elmhurst University Athletics content by following the Bluejays on Twitter (@elmhurstbluejay), Facebook (Elmhurst University Athletics) and Instagram (@elmhurstbluejays), and tune in to elmhurstbluejays.com for the latest news and information.