PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's track & field put together an extremely strong start to their season on Sunday, when they raced at the Portland Indoor One Meet at the Chiles Center. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Pioneers set the program record in the 4x400M Relay and sophomore Max Aldrich led the men in the mile with a top-10 finish and the third-fastest time in indoor program history. 
 
"This was a fantastic first meet for us. And for many people, it was their first indoor meet ever. And regardless of whether people were happier, disappointed with the results, there is a very positive mindset about how to take the next steps," head coach Matthew Barreau said.
 
"In many cases, we started off this year better than we ended last year indoor. To break two school records that we had set at the end of last year was just a small view of how the whole team competed.
 
The team continues to build its strength and its community, and they were a lot of great points of camaraderie and teamwork today. The energy is high with this group and that's going to allow us to capitalize on the talent we have on the team."
 
Freshman Nicholas Stade, sophomore Paul Biaggi, freshman Noah Nelson and sophomore Will Dennis combined to finish second overall in the 4x400M Relay with a time of 3:37.02. Their time broke the program record set last season by over four seconds. 
 
Lewis & Clark entered four 4x400M relay teams into the event with all four finishing in the top 10 (out of 12). 
 
Freshmen Jordan Lahusky and Jonathan Fritz, teamed up with junior Liam Rickey and sophomore Mike Reem to place fifth overall (3:42.58). 
 
The Pioneers third relay team of freshmen Daniel Corbo, Will Laskey and Joseph Naylor and junior Connor Smyth finished seventh overall with a time of 3:47.15. 
 
Sophomores Tyler Chan and Daniel Madhavan and juniors Elliott Harrison and Devon Guest combined to finish in 3:57.58 to take 10^th place. 
 
In the only individual event the Pioneers competed in on the day, Aldrich led 16 Lewis & Clark runners in the mile. 
 
The Pioneers' top cross country runner finished seventh overall, and second amongst Division III student-athletes, with a time of 4:20.12. 
 
Junior Brendan Creeks and Nelson posted the next fastest times. Creeks barely edged out Nelson with the pair finishing in 4:36.78 and 4:36.92.
 
Sophomore Peter Ford and Miles Voenell rounded out the top five for the Pioneers in the event. The duo finished third and fourth in their heat, with Ford crossing the line in 4:38.55 and Voenell in 4:39.35. 
 
Rickey, Dennis and sophomore Aidan Ridderhof were the next three Pioneers in the standings. Rickey finished 45^th overall with a time of 4:40.08, while Dennis placed 50^th (4:42.18) and Ridderhof (4:45.21) came in 53^rdplace. 
 
Junior Nate Bay and freshman Rigo Castellanos closed out the top 10 in the event for Lewis & Clark. Bay posted a time of 4:48.89 and Castellanos came across the line in 4:50.69. 
 
DEEPER LOOK 

• The Pioneers 4x400M relay team of Stade, Biaggi, Nelson and Dennis finished first amongst all Division III teams. Their time (3:37.02) was 4.59 seconds fastest than the record set by the quartet of Harrison, Madhavan, Rickey and Connor Robertson ('22) last winter. 
• Freshman Theron Plumb (4:51.28), sophomore Bruce Marlatt (4:56.73), sophomore Connor Harrod (4:56.85), junior Dylan Souza (4:57.64), Naylor (4:59.39) and junior Brandon Apresa (4:59.79) finished out the Pioneers participants in the mile. 
• Aldrich's time in the mile (4:20.12) is the third-fastest in program history. He stands behind only Ken Woodard (4:16.40 in 1974) and George Karamitsos (4:17.39 in 2021). 
• Nine Pioneers made their track & field collegiate debut on Sunday. 
• The Pioneers second relay team of Lahusky, Fritz, Reem and Rickey posted the third-fastest time in program history in the 4x400M Relay. =  

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
Aldrich will travel to the University of Washington on Friday to compete at the University of Washington invitational. The rest of the team will resume competition on Sunday, February 5, when the Pioneers will compete at both the Portland Indoor Two meet and the George Fox Indoor Meet #1.