MARION, Ind. - Momentum continues to build for Grace's track and field team as they represented well at the 119th annual Indiana Little State Championships on Friday and Saturday.

The Lancers won three events at the competitive meet, had three events finish as runners-up and set a school record during a busy weekend. Both the men and women placed sixth overall.

The meet was Grace's final tune-up before the postseason. Grace will return to Marion, Ind., for the Crossroads League Championships on May 2-3.

The men's 4x800-meter relay team hit an NAIA "A" standard. The quartet of Luis Loera, Brady Hunsberger, Dimitri Margaritidis and Logan Rufenacht won the race with a strong time of 7:40.11.

Margaritidis also won the 1,500, breaking the tape at 3:56.42.

The women's 4x800 quartet of Morgan Welch, Tara Friesen, Anna Hulstedt and Kylie Sauder also hit the "A" standard. They were runners-up with a time of 9:23.79.

Esther Cameron, fresh off being named the NCCAA National Track Athlete of the Week, had another impressive race in the 5,000. After running a 17:40 last week to beat the school record, she smashed that mark during the Little States with an NAIA "A" time of 17:19.50, placing fifth overall.

The women's 4x400 relay squad won their race when Zoe Huley, Olivia Adkins, Tara Friesen and Gracious O'Connor teamed up for a finish of 3:58.28. Additionally, O'Connor was runner-up in the 200 with a time of 25.60.

Mackenzie Parker finished as a runner-up in the javelin; her third throw reached 112-feet-2. Parker was also ninth in the discus (126-0).

Friesen (800m) and Hulstedt (1,500m) both placed sixth in their races, and Huley grabbed ninth in the 400 (1:01.48).

Grace Pettit (12:13.46) and Katie Acker (12:24.70) finished fifth and eighth respectively in the 3,000 steeplechase, and Emma Conrad ended in seventh for the 100 hurdles (16.02).

Emily McCreary cleared 5-3 in the high jump for fifth place, and Breanna Hyde leaped 16-10.5 in the long jump for fourth place.

Mick Wright had a pair of top-10 showings, including fourth in the 100 (10.94) and eighth in the 200 (22.63).

Cole Johnston was third in the 10,000 (32:58.78) and Ryun Hoffert was seventh (35:28.28). Luke Nier also nabbed seventh in the 5,000 (15:23.85).

Josh Pike ended in sixth in the long jump (20-7.75), while Justin Farris was eighth in the high jump (5-11.5).

In the men's throws, Brock Lengacher earned fourth in the discus (148-11) and sixth in the hammer (160-4). The javelin saw Grace finish third (Ethan Brown) and fourth (Josiah Thompson).

MEET RESULTS