BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Grace's track and field team divided its efforts this week at two high-profile meets.
A large part of Grace's team competed at the 118th annual Little State Championships, hosted at Indiana Wesleyan. Grace also sent a contingent to Indiana University for the Indiana Invitational.
Overall, Grace set three new school records across the two meets and had several NAIA standards.
INDIANA INVITATIONAL - Bloomington, Ind.
At IU, Grace was the only non-NCAA Div. I school at the meet. The Lancers competed against schools like Michigan State, Purdue, Butler, Indiana, Miami (Ohio) and Louisville.
Bryan Hernandez-Rios was 12th in the 5,000 with a time of 14:21.76. Brandon Kleber (14:44.79) and Dimitri Margaritidis (14:50.06) also ran well in the event.
Hernandez-Rios now owns the fourth-fastest in the NAIA this season with his school-record performance. Kleber also hit the NAIA "A" standard alongside Hernandez-Rios, and Margaritidis hit the "B" mark.
In the 1,500, Kylie Sauder placed 16th in a time of 4:37.55, and Anna Hulstedt won her heat of the event at 4:41.77. Sauder's race was an NAIA "B" time and a school record.
The duo also impressed during the 800. Sauder (2:14.24) and Hulstedt (2:15.94) finished fourth and sixth respectively in the race filled with 22 competitors. Sauder's time was an "A" standard, and Hulstedt's was a "B" mark.
Tara Friesen also finished ninth in that race (2:16.92), giving the Lady Lancers three finishers in the top 10.
Tanner Sallee grabbed 11th place in the men's 800 with his finish of 1:56.21, and Carmen Trier raced to a time of 18:19.20 in the women's 5,000.
LITTLE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS - Marion, Ind.
Lanae Crowe hit a highlight for the throwing crew at Little State. She heaved the discus 149-feet-4; it set a new school record and also hit the NAIA "A" qualifying standard.
Emma Lehman was seventh in the pole vault (10-2), and Emily McCreary was eighth in the high jump (4-11).
Also impressing at the Little State meet was the 5,000 crew. Cole Johnston raced under 15 minutes for the first time (14:56) to set a freshman program record, and Justin Van Prooyen also hit a PR at 15:17.
Morgan Welch ran a 2:23.24 in the 800 to finish seventh; she finished 16th in the 1,500 (5:03.98), one spot behind teammate Addison Grady (5:03.83).
In the men's javelin, Michael Williams hit the NCCAA standard during his first time throwing the javelin in college (154-6). Zaryn Rumfelt finished runner-up and one spot ahead of Williams with his heave of 158-4.
Esther Cameron placed in the top 10 for the 5,000 with her time of 18:43.22, and Karris Sigler was 13th in the 400 hurdles (1:11.36).
In the men's steeplechase, Dakota Ames grabbed third place with a time of 9:51.93. In the women's steeplechase, Katie Acker nabbed fifth place (11:50.90), and Caroline Kolb was ninth (12:30.57).
Malia Butler placed 11th in the women's long jump (16-8.75), and Korry Hamlin was 10th in the men's 1,500 (4:03.17).
Brock Lengacher, Bryce Willard and Rumfelt finished 8th, 9th and 10th respectively in the discus, and Rumfelt was ninth in the shot put.
The Lancers have just one more tuneup race left before the postseason. Grace will host its annual home event, the Lancer Invitational, on Friday at the Bernard and Linnie Key Track and Field Complex.
The Lancer Invitational will be live streamed online at www.gclancers.com/live.
INDIANA INVITATIONAL RESULTS
LITTLE STATE RESULTS
