Terril Skinner continued his strong outdoor season, leading the Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's track and field team at the Lancer Invitational on Friday, April 30, in Winona Lake, Indiana.
The Cougars (with a total of 70 points) were third on the day out of nine teams. Grace College won the meet with a total of 109 points.
The sophomore Skinner placed first in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.05 seconds. He also placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.18 seconds and finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.88 seconds.
The men's 4x400 team of Luke Couchman, Colin Gaines, Liam Near and Clayton Slemmons finished second with a time of 3:34.89. Couchman placed third in the men's 400-hurdles with a time of 1:00.30. Near finished third in the 200 with a time of 22.84 seconds.
Also for the Cougars, Micah Tuggle placed third in the men's shot put with a throw of 14.45 meters, and Zach Jenney finished third in the men's discus with a toss of 44.51.
Kasey Keith continued her big outdoor season for the MVNU women's team, which placed fifth (38 points) on the day out of nine teams. Bethel University won the meet with a total of 110 points.
Keith, a senior, won the women's shot put with a throw of 12.48. Makayla Roberts finished fourth in the event with a toss of 10.98. Keith and Roberts also placed fourth and fifth in the discus with throws of 40.54 and 38.37, respectively.
Keith also performed well in the women's hammer, finishing third with a throw of 40.66.
BASEBALL
Aaron Saal celebrated his Senior Day on Saturday, May 1, with his 11th and 12th home runs of the season, and MVNU swept Bethel in Crossroads League play.
Saal hit the long ball in the Cougars' 8-2 win over the Pilots in the opener. He finished with two RBIs as well.
Jake Glover did it on the mound and at the plate for MVNU in Saturday’s opener. He went 2 of 5 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored. On the mound, Glover went seven innings, allowing just five hits and one earned run while striking out five.
The Cougars took Game 2 of the series by a lopsided score of 21-2. The bats were hot for MVNU as it accumulated 20 hits for the game. Glover and Saal had home runs in the first and second innings, and Chris Kline broke the game open with a grand-slam bomb to left on a 2-2 count in the fifth inning.
Adam Goodpaster picked up the win on the mound for MVNU.
The two teams opened the four-game set with a split on Friday, April 30, in Mount Vernon.
A four-run fifth inning ended up being the difference in an 7-4 Cougar win in the opener.
A two-run home run from Cameron Miller got the scoring started in the fifth. RBI singles from Hogan Heck and Toby Walker accounted for the other two runs.
Kaleb Bauman pitched a strong game for MVNU. The right-hander pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run. He also struck out three batters.
The Pilots scored all four of their runs in the third inning of the second game, a 4-1 win over the Cougars.
Kline had the lone RBI for the Cougars.
SOFTBALL
MVNU sent out seniors Hannah Barco, Samantha Collier and Courtney Knepper with a doubleheader sweep over Huntington in Crossroads League play on Saturday, May 1.
MVNU took Game 1 in five innings by a score of 9-1. The outcome of the game was never in serious doubt for the Cougars as they scored three runs in the first inning — including two on a Maddison Ruhl home run.
Knepper put the exclamation point on the victory with a three-run homer over the left field fence, and Sheridan Sullivan got the win for MVNU after another strong outing inside the circle.
Game 2 also went MVNU's way as it came up with a 4-2 victory behind the right arm of Macee Marcum, who allowed just two earned runs on seven hits in a complete game.
Like Game 1, MVNU jumped on top of the Foresters early. The Cougars scored all four of their runs in the first inning, thanks to a two-run double from Knepper and RBIs from Mackenzie Hancock and Katelyn Perkins.
