MARION, Ind. - Grace's track and field team officially kicked off the postseason with the first day of the 2024 Crossroads League Championships on Thursday.
The men finished Thursday in fourth place in the team standings with 29 points, and the women sit in fifth with 31.5 points.
The women's 4x800-meter relay team highlighted the opening day. The quartet of Morgan Welch, Tara Friesen, Anna Hulstedt and Kylie Sauder won the league title with a time of 9:03.38, beating a remarkably fast field. The top-three finishes in that race are now the fastest-three posted times in the NAIA this season.
The men's 4x800 relay finished as the runner-up. Brady Hunsberger, Luis Loera, Dimitri Margaritidis and Logan Rufenacht placed second with a time of 7:32.15 in yet another blazingly fast race. The top-five finishers in Thursday's relay topped the previous No. 1-ranked time in the NAIA this year.
Grace's women grabbed 17 points in the 10,000 alone. Esther Cameron was runner-up with a time of 38:01.99, and Mallory Hiatt was third (38:46.77). Madelyn Skidmore finished sixth in the race (41:14.87), completing a strong showing. Cameron and Hiatt earned All-League recognition (top-three finishes in each event).
Noah Zimmerman finished as the runner-up in the long jump. He sailed 22-feet-7.25.
Justin Farris placed fifth in the men's high jump, clearing 6-feet-1.5, and Justin Van Prooyen placed seventh in the men's 10,000 (33:18.98).
Lanae Crowe earned sixth place in the discus (131-9), and Emily McCreary was seventh in the high jump (5-1).
Brock Lengacher placed in two throwing events. He finished fourth in the discus (149-3) and seventh in the shot put (48-4.25).
Grace had two ladies advance to Friday's finals in the 100 hurdles, including Emma Conrad and Madelyn Yoder. In the women's 200 prelims, Gracious O'Connor and Zoe Huley advanced to the final race on Friday.
Mick Wright and Ethan Cummins performed well in the 100 and 200 preliminaries; both runners qualified for Friday's final races after finishing in the top-nine during the prelims on Thursday. Wright set the 100 dash school record during the preliminary race, finishing in 10.61 to beat the three-year record (J. Green).
The meet concludes on Friday with 22 running finals and six finals in field events.
To follow along Friday's results, click here.
