Calvin had another big day of competition at meets held in WashU University, Emory University and North Central College.

Leading the charge at the Emory University Thrills in the Hills Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia, was sophomore Zach Van Baren (Hudsonville, Mich./Covenant Christian HS) who completed the two-day, 10-event decathlon with a career-high 6,007 points. His previous career high had been 5,445 points.

Van Baren opened Friday with the 110 high hurdles and clocked a first place time of 15.46 that was good for 745 points. He also took first in the discus throw at 34.54 meters that earned him 554 points. In the pole vault, he was third at 3.55 meters for 496 points. He was fourth in the javelin at 38.35 meters for 418 points. He then placed third in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:59.32 that produced 564 points and got him over the 6,000 point mark in the event. His total was good for third place in the individual standings.

Another highlight was Calvin's 4x400 meter relay as the team of freshman Benjamin Habers (ake Ann, Mich. Traverse City West), senior Corbin DeBoer (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS), junior Connor Lubberts (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) and senior Koby VanderWoude (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia HS) took second in a time of 3:16.26 that currently ranks third nationally.

VanderWoude placed 25^th in the 200 meter dash in a time of 22.33. Senior Nicholas Henz (Oswego, Il./Oswego East HS) was 24^th in the 1500 meter run in a time of 4:08.57. Sophomore Bob Horton (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) opened his outdoor campaign by finishing 11^th in the 400 meter hurdles (57.66).

The Knights had a strong day in the jump. Freshman Simon Vandenbroek (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) was third in the high jump (6-4 ¾) and freshman Peyton Coffey (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) was 11^th (6-0 ¾). Sophomore Luke Nguyen (Houston, Texas Carl Wunsche Sr.) took fourth in the triple jump with a career-best leap of 45-0 ¼ that ranks 13^th nationally. Sophomore teammate Connor Johnson (Kingsley, Mich./Kingsley HS) was 11^th in 40-6 ½.

The throws were also a highlight for Calvin with senior Matthew Toldy (Huron, Oh./Huron HS) taking sixth with a career-best throw of 161-6. Freshman Carson Arnould (Hudsonville, Mich./Zeeland West HS) was sixth in the discus (140-10).

Over in St. Louis, Missouri, senior Thaine Nederveld (Columbus, Oh./Columbus Alternative School) clocked a strong time of 14:45.02 in the 5,000 meters while freshman Vaughn Meyer (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) came in at 15:30.96.

At the North Central First Chance Invitational, junior Aaron Jahn (Shelby, Twp., Mich. Utica High School) was 22^nd (16:44.51) while junior Gavin Anderson (Roselle, Ill. Lake Park) was 23^rd (16:47.52).

Action continues on Saturday.