Grace Results: March 4
Grace Men’s Tennis 6, Asbury 1
Cumberlands 6, Grace 1
Grace’s men’s tennis team kicked off its Southern road trip against a pair of ranked opponents.
The Lancers beat Asbury, who is receiving votes in the NAIA poll, by the score of 6-1 on Wednesday. The 19th-ranked Lancers then fell to No. 14 Cumberlands 6-1 on Thursday.
The Lancers’ win over Asbury on Wednesday was Grace’s fifth victory over an NAIA ranked opponent.
The Eagles won the doubles’ point despite a dramatic 7-6 (8-6) win at No. 2 doubles by Max Rozas and Fabricio Galvan.
The Lancers flexed their muscles in singles’ play, winning all six courts. All but one of the courts was decided in straight sets.
David Sandi (No. 1), Facundo Paredes (No. 3), Fabricio Galvan (No. 4), Pavle Popovic (No. 5) and Ramiro Candia (No. 6) each won in straight sets.
Rozas pulled out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles, earning his second victory of the day.
The Lancers did not fare as well against No. 14 Cumberlands (Ky.). Rozas and Galvan again provided the only doubles’ win. The Patriots won the other two courts to claim the doubles’ point.
Rozas was the only Lancer to win in singles, claiming a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 2. Two of Grace’s singles’ losses were in three sets, and Galvan (6-7, 5-7) also had a narrow defeat at No. 4.
The Lancers’ road trip south will end this weekend. Grace will play No. 21 Cumberland (Tenn.) on Friday before taking on Blue Mountain and Martin Methodist on Saturday.
Grace Men Kick Off NAIAs
Grace’s track and field team got the second day of competition underway at the NAIA Indoor National Championships on Thursday. The men’s squad began competition on Thursday with multiple events qualifying for the finals.
The distance medley relay continued its impressive indoor campaign on Thursday. Logan Rufenacht, Tyler Morrison, Tanner Sallee and Dimitri Margaritidis ran a time of 10:18.12 to better their own school record.
The 4×800 relay team of Luke Smith, Isaac Beatty, Maurice Macklin and Kyle Smith posted a time of 7:51.62. Both the 4×800 and the distance medley relay will race in the national finals on Saturday.
Bryan Hernandez-Rios also advanced in the 3,000-meter race, finishing in 8:48.34.
Kyle Smith finished 12th in the 600 (1:24.74), and John Green placed 13th in the 200 (22.43).
“Our guys really competed well. The relays did what they had to do to make the finals and now can run for All-American honors on Saturday,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “Bryan ran a smart race in his first taste of national competition and also will look for a top-eight finish on Saturday.”
The women’s finals are on Friday. Two Lady Lancers will represent Grace, including Heather Plastow in the mile and Mallory Hiatt in the 5,000.