YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The IU Indianapolis men's track and field squad put an emphatic capper on day one of the Horizon League Indoor Championships on Saturday (Feb. 28), rallying for a win in the distance medley relay to capture the event for the second straight year. The Jaguars shed six seconds off the previous school record and needed a late kick from Luke Shappell to collect the win. 

The Jaguars were positioned well in the DMR as Riley Nixon ran a strong opening 1,200 and Jaydon Steidinger stayed near the front in his 400m leg. Freshman Evan Farmer was at the back of the pack early in his 800m leg, but handed to Shappell in roughly third-place. Shappell appeared to be primed to bring a runner-up finish home, but closed a large gap and extended to a two-second win over Purdue Fort Wayne. 

The relay win closed out an already profitable day for the Jaguars. 

In the 800m event, sophomore Joey Ashman qualified as the top seed in Sunday's finals with a prelims time of 1:53.58. Steidinger also snuck into the finals with a time of 1:54.54, claiming the final spot. 

In the 5,000m event, TJ Gorman won the opening heat with a personal best time of 15:18.49, setting the standard for the faster heat and taking seven seconds off his previous best. 

In the second heat, freshman Eli Oetken finished seventh overall to earn a spot on the podium, crossing at 14:44.04. Sophomore Sam Grimes just missed scoring as well, finishing ninth overall in a personal record time of 14:44.99. Fellow sophomore Joey LaPatra also ran a personal best time of 14:51.48 and Caleb Webb clocked a time of 15:17.36. 

The Jaguars finished day one with 12 points in the team standings and will wrap up the two-day meet on Sunday (Mar. 1).