Grace Track: Rain Doesn’t Ruin Opening Day [VIDEO]
WINONA LAKE – Grace College officially hosted its first track and field meet on Saturday with the inaugural Lancer Invitational. A wet, memorable afternoon debuted Grace’s new Bernard and Linnie Key Track and Field Complex in front of a strong contingent of fans, despite heavy rain for most of the meet.
The men’s team won the event, while the women finished second out of five teams. Also competing in the meet were Crossroads League opponents Goshen, Huntington and St. Francis as well as Trinity Christian.
“Despite the weather not being ideal, I’m very proud of how hard we competed. Today was a significant milestone in the history of our program, and I thought our athletes honored the occasion by putting forth some great efforts,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond.
Saturday’s meet was also unique in that every race winner set a track record at the new complex.
Macallister Seitz and Jacob Brown both hit the NAIA qualifying standard in throwing events. Seitz threw 162-feet in the discus, and Brown hit 167-2 in the hammer.
The hammer was a strong event for Grace by as the Lancers claimed the top-five spots, including Isaac Stuckey in second at 164-8. Stuckey also won the javelin at 151-8.
Bennett Parker set a personal-best in the high jump, posting a height of 6-6.75, Joel Bertelsen won the steeplechase in a time of 10:05.89, and Nathan Lane won the 1500-meter run in 4:03.65.
Martin Schiele had a busy day. He was on the winning 4×100 relay team alongside Cameron Johnson, Joel Zook and Austin Keisling. Schiele also won the 200 in 23.17 seconds and was second in the 100 dash.
Zook set a PR to win the 400 in 49.96, and he also teamed up with Nolan Miller, KeJuan Leek and Sam Hall to win the 4×400.
Liz Fox placed second in the 400 (1:05.79) and third in the 800 (2:32.25), and Nolan Miller set a PR and qualified for NCCAA Nationals in the 400 hurdles.
Hannah Treadway was runner-up in the discus at 114-9, and Savannah Hart was also second in the javelin at 103-0.
Brooke Treadway (discus), Brianna Tuttle (hammer) and Raven Arellano (1500) all finished third, and Jessica Zvers was fourth in the 5000.
“I thought Bennett [Parker] clearing the two-meter mark in the high jump and Joel [Zook] breaking the 50-second barrier in the 400 were big-time performances, especially considering the conditions. It was also impressive for Macallister [Seitz] and Jacob [Brown] to throw national qualifying marks in their events. All of our athletes can say they were part of the first track meet ever at Grace College, so that makes it a special day.”
The Lancers now shift their attention to next week’s Crossroads League Championships, held at Taylor University.