UPLAND – Competing in temperatures that resembled winter more than spring, Grace’s track and field squad ended up in fifth place on the men’s side and eighth on the women’s side at the George Glass Invitational at Taylor.

The mercury barely hit the 40-degree mark during the day and was in the 30s for most of the meet.

Jacob Brown led a 1-2-3 sweep in the men’s hammer throw, hitting the “A” qualifying standard for NAIA Nationals with a personal best toss of 174-feet-10. William Shafer and Walker Hobbs helped the Lancers to the top three spots.

Shafer also had a PR in the discus at 135-9 to place fifth. One spot ahead was Caleb Brown with a mark of 144-2. Brown added a fourth place in the shot put at 44-10.75, and Hobbs was right behind at 44-5.25.

Thomas Hickerson completed a strong throwing day for Grace with a third place finish in the javelin with a throw of 149-11.

Isaiah Zeller ended up fourth in the pole vault with a height of 13-7.5.

In the running events, the top finish came from Sam Hall as he placed fourth in the 800-meter race in 1:58.32, while Josh Pridgen ran a PR of 22.72 in the 200 to finish fifth. Ben Rankin took eighth in the 5,000 in 16:01.92.

For the women, Suzanne Sickafoose placed in two individual events. She was third in the 200 in 27.03 and fourth in the 400 in 1:03.61. Quinn Shelton added a seventh in the 400 in 1:06.91, while Allison Gatchell was fifth in the 100 hurdles in 17:50.

Also scoring for the Lady Lancers was Emily Anderson, who grabbed seventh in the javelin with a mark of 103-1.

“The weather wasn’t the best, but we managed to post some good results. For many, this was the first outdoor competition, so it’s good to get things rolling,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “We will continue to work and get ready for bigger meets in the near future.”

Grace will compete in the Huntington Invitational next Saturday.