FINAL DAY RECAP
GREENVILLE, Ill. - Grace's track and field team enjoyed success at the national stage at the 2022 NCCAAÂ Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.
The men's team repeated as the NCCAA national champions, and the women finished as the national runners-up to match their finish from a year ago. The men's title is their second-ever in track and field team history.
It marks the 11th overall title in the history of Grace Athletics. It comes on the heels of Grace's 10th championship as the Lancers' men's tennis squad claimed the NCCAA title hours earlier on Friday afternoon.
Grace's coaching staff was named the NCCAA National Coaching Staff of the Year for the men's side at the conclusion of the meet.
The men's team used a dominating performance in the middle distance events and strategic finishes in a wide variety of areas to capture the national crown.
The women's team also had a number of stellar results, finishing just two points behind the overall winners.
"This was an awesome day for everyone," said Grace head coach Michael Moffitt. "This is a very deserving group. They put it out there and sacrificed for each other. They represented Grace and Christ well with their hard work and dedication. I couldn't be prouder of them."
The men's team took the lead in the meet after capturing four spots in the 1,500-meter race. Dimitri Margaritidis won the event in 3:53.94, followed closely by Logan Rufenacht in 3:54.84. Kyle Smith claimed fourth in 3:58.38, and Korry Hamlin finished seventh in 4:03.68.
Margaritidis came back to finish second in the 800 at 1:54.35. Five more Lancers followed as Grace runners claimed six of the eight places. Bryan Hernandez-Rios (1:54.36), Kyle Smith (1:54.85), Isaac Beatty (1:54.94), Rufenacht (1:55.62) and Luke Smith (1:55.69) helped score 28 points in the event.
Hernandez-Rios won the 5,000 race earlier in the day, finishing in 15:29.69. Brandon Kleber was sixth in the event (16:07.41).
The women also jumped into the championship hunt in the middle distance events. Kylie Sauder (4:49.93), Heather Plastow (4:53) and Anna Hulstedt (4:55.18) captured the top-three spots in the 1,500, while Elizabeth Moore (5:12.74) was sixth. Moore added a third-place finish in the 5,000 (19:55.99).
Sauder also won the 800 in 2:15.17, followed by Plastow (2:16.75) and Tara Friesen (2:16.93) to sweep the three All-American spots. Makenzie Adams (2:22.53) was sixth, and Hulstedt ended eighth (2:23.52).
The meet ended in exciting fashion as both the men's and women's 4x400 squads established new school records. The women's foursome of Friesen, Zoe Huley, Sauder and Lyne Camara won the event in 3:55.67, which is also a NAIA "B" qualifying mark.
The men's relay made a late charge, but fell a fraction short of the event title. The group of Michael Williams, Luke Smith, Beatty and Kyle Smith finished in 3:18.27 to finish second by .02.
Many other Grace athletes contributed to the success of both teams. The women's 4x100 relay (Camara, Nordia Campbell, Huley, Gracious O'Connor) finished second (47.45); the men's 4x100 relay (Williams, Josh Pike, Myles Frohling, John Green) ended fifth in a season-best 42.22; Camara was third in the 400 (58.14); O'Connor ended second in the 100 (12.23) and third in the 200 (24.71); Campbell finished third in the 100 (12.36) and fourth in the 200 (24.79).
Green ended eighth in the 100 (11.05) and third in the 200 (21.68); Emma Conrad bettered her own school record to finish fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.01); Connor Kitson placed sixth in the 110 hurdles (16.39); Michael Williams was sixth in the 400 (50.29); Mackenzie DeLong ended seventh in the shot put (40-feet-2); and Emma Lehman finished sixth in the pole vault (9-6.25).
The Lancer men scored 147 points to outscore Bethel (132.33), Greenville (127.67) and Campbellsville (92). Bethel won the women's competition with 150 points, with Grace scoring 148. Greenville (118) and Campbellsville (107) rounded out the top four. A total of 23 teams competed in the meet.
Grace will now set its sights on the NAIA National Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 25-27. The Lancers have four relays and several individuals qualified to compete at nationals.
Meet Results
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DAY 1-2 RECAP
GREENVILLE, Ill. -- The Grace track and field team had a good outing on the first full day of the NCCAA Championships hosted by Greenville College. The Lancers produced three event champions, five NCCAA All-American performances and three new school records.
Isaac Brown repeated as national champion in the javelin with a mark of 56.34 meters (184-10), while the men's 4 x 800 relay also won for the second straight year, finishing in 7:45.08. The foursome was made up of
Derek O'Connor,
Luke Smith,
Logan Rufenacht and
Dimitri Margaritidis. Brown added a runner-up finish in the high jump (2.00m./6-6 3/4),
The other championship performance came from the women's 4 x 800 relay. The group of
Emma Lingenfelter,
Sara Lopez-Ochoa,
Heather Plastow and
Tara Friesen took the title with a time of 9:34.98.
Freshman
Brandon Kleber competed in the first 10,000 meter race of his young career and navigated the 25 laps and warm temperatures to finish second in 33:05.94. Teammates Hayden Mullet (34:10.65) and
Korry Hamlin (34:31.00) were sixth and eighth, respectively.
Other athletes scoring points for the Lancers were
Josiah Thompson, fourth in the javelin (52.12m./171-0);
Connor Kitson, seventh in the decathlon (4912 pts.); and
Bryce Willard, seventh in the discus (38.84m./127-5). For the women, point scorers were
Madelyn Skidmore, fifth in the 10,000 meters (45:15.13);
Lanae Crowe, fifth in the discus (39.67m./130-2);
Mackenzie DeLong, sixth in the discus (39.45m./129-4) and eighth in the javelin (32.53m./106-8);
Olivia Lugibihl, sixth in the heptathlon (3178 pts.); and
Emily McCreary, seventh in the high jump (1.52m./4-11 3/4).
All three of the new school records happened in preliminary rounds.
Gracious O'Connor ran 11.94 in the prelims of the 100 meters to not only qualify for the finals, but set a new school mark and hit the NAIA "B" qualifying standard. She topped her own previous record of 12.01. Teammate
Nordia Campbell also moved on to the finals by running 12.21. The pair repeated their performances in the 200 meters to advance to the finals. O'Connor ran 24.79, while Campbell finished in 25.19.
John Green bettered his own school record in the 200 meter preliminaries, crossing the line with a time of 21.45. He set the previous mark of 21.47 earlier this year. Green also advanced to the finals in the 100 meters, finishing in a season-best time of 10.71.
The final school record came from
Emma Conrad in the preliminaries of the women's 100 hurdles. She ran 15.14 to advance to the finals and improved on the school record of 15.27 set by Mya Brown in 2015.
The meet concludes on Friday with the remainder of the field events and the running event finals. The Grace men are looking to repeat their team championship from a year ago, while the women will battle for their first ever title.
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