ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Illinois Tech men's track and field team opened the outdoor season on Saturday with a strong meet at Augustana College. Several strong performances were posted, including some seed times already trumped from last season.

Meet Highlights

• Robert Mathis was strong in his first collegiate outdoor 100m race, placing 13th in a field of over 80 participants with a time of 11.33s. Jacob Gagner (35th, 11.71s) and Saisaketh Valluri (36th, 11.72s) also ran well, with Valluri improving off of his 12.44s seed time.
• In addition to his 100m, Valluri also competed in the long jump and placed 20th at 5.77m. Juan Flores placed 29th (5.44m) in the same event.
• Finishing in 14th place, Evan Balizado built off of his strong indoor season with an 800m time of 2:02.86. Brendan Batliner also ran a good race, placing 23rd at 2:06.26.
• Barry Brookins' best event was the hammer throw, where he placed 31st at 32.58m.
• In the 1500m, Anthony Tuman clocked in at 4:21.33 (38th place).

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks will compete in the Wheaton Invitational on April 6.