SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The Yellowjacket men's track and field team was in action Saturday, competing in the Holst Invitational, hosted by Concordia St. Paul at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
The event was one of the final tune-ups for the Yellowjackets, who are now just two weeks away from the 2024 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and again they showed well against a strong field spanning multiple NCAA divisions.
 
It was a particularly good day in the field events for the Yellowjackets.
 
Ben Babcock (Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area) had a big day in the jumps, where he placed second in the long jump and third in the triple jump. Babcock had a mark of 6.45 meters in the long jump and followed that with a 12.83 mark in the triple jump. The latter result was just shy of a new personal record for Babcock.
 
In the throws Nate Ohman (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) had another good day, placing sixth in both the shot put and the hammer throw. In the shot, Ohman had a mark of 14.73 meters, while in the hammer throw he set a new personal record with a heave of 49.30 meters. Ohman continues to climb up the national rankings in both events.
 
Earl Foster (Forest Lake, Minn./Spectrum) placed fourth in the javelin Saturday, finishing with a mark of 43.13 meters. He also set a new personal record in the triple jump, placing fifth with a mark of 12.26 meters.
 
Moving to the track events, Garrett Lynch (Portage, Wis./Portage) earned a second-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.90 seconds.
 
Ethan Westimayer (Laona, Wis./Laona) placed seventh in the 200-meter dash, finishing with a time of 22.57 seconds. He also finished just outside the top ten in the 400 meters.
 
Aidan Doherty (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) ran a strong race in the 800 meters, finishing eighth with a time of 1:58.92. The time set a new personal record for Doherty, who was the first of three straight Yellowjackets to place in the top ten. He was just ahead of Dylan Uitto (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) and David Collins (Ironwood, Mich./Luther L. Wright) who placed ninth and tenth, respectively.
 
In the 10,000 meters, Kieran Johnson (South Range, Wis./Northwestern) finished third with a time of 33:55.96, setting a new personal record.
 
Meet Notes

• Zach Reese (Zimmerman, Minn./Spectrum) and Ben Plackner (Bovey, Minn./Greenway) finished sixth and seventh, respectively in the 1,500 meters. Reese finished in 4:13.94 and Plackner in 4:22.48. Reese's time was a personal record.
• Cale Newby (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) finished seventh in the 10,000 meters with a time of 36:26.23.
• The 4-x-100-meter relay team placed third with a time of 43.88 seconds. The team was made up of Westimayer, Will Schorr (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), Edward Hakanson (Foxboro, Wis./Superior Senior) and Lynch.
• In addition to his finish in the 110-meter hurdles, Lynch also placed seventh in the high jump.
• Ethan DeFoe (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) placed eighth in the long jump with a mark of 5.67 meters.

The Yellowjackets will compete at the Rider/Bolstorff Invitational, hosted by Macalester College, next week. The hammer throw and 5,000-meter run will take place Thursday, April 25, with the meet's remaining events happening Saturday, April 27.