Grace Results: April 3
Track and Field Competes At George Glass
Grace’s track and field team continued to rewrite the school record book on Saturday.
The Lancers set three school records at the George Glass Invitational (held at Taylor) and had a pair of NAIA qualifiers as well.
Isaac Brown cleared 6-feet-11 to win the high jump and break his own school record. That height surpassed the NAIA “A” qualifying standard and is currently tied for the top mark in the NAIA.
John Green claimed the unofficial title of “fastest man in Grace history” with his time in the 100-meter dash. He broke one of the oldest records in the record book, sprinting to a time of 10.70 seconds to win the race. His mark tops the previous best of 10.84 set by Ron Smith in 1984.
The women’s 4×100 relay established a new school record of 48.32 to win the event and hit the NAIA “B” standard. The foursome of Julia Malson, Nordia Campbell, Gracious O’Connor and Sarah O’Day become the first women’s relay team from Grace to ever qualify for the NAIA Outdoor Nationals.
O’Connor also won the 100-meter dash for the women in a time of 12.24, and Campbell was third in the 400 at 1:00.27.
Michaela Buriff placed third in the 400 hurdles (1:08.94), and Kaitlyn Mack was fourth in the event (1:10.73).
Heather Plastow (2:22.57) and Makenzie Adams (2:23.35) finished 4-5 in the 800, and Mackenzie DeLong (101-feet-1) and Bethany Hoffman (92-3) finished fifth and seventh in the javelin. Elizabeth Moore was also seventh in the 1,500 (5:01.18).
On the men’s side, the 4×400 relay team of Green, Tyler Morrison, Tanner Sallee and Kyle Smith finished runner-up with a time of 3:21.17. Bryan Hernandez-Rios was also runner-up in the 1,500 (4:02.59).
Dimitri Margaritidis finished third in the 1,500 (4:03.53), and Logan Rufenacht was right behind in fourth place (4:04.88).
Sallee (1:56.34) and Luke Smith (1:58.58) finished fourth and sixth in the 800, and Isaac Findley was sixth in the 200 at 21.96.
For the men’s throws, Caleb Brown finished third in the shot put (46-11.5) and sixth in the hammer (146-2).
Ethan Brown was fifth in the javelin (141-10), and Josiah Thompson was sixth (138-0). Neal Kathary also grabbed eighth in the shot put at 43-5.
“This was another day of quality performances by the Lancers. The weather started cool during the early parts of the day, and the wind was a factor throughout. But many athletes still stepped up and continued to compete hard,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond.
To see complete meet results, click here.
The Lancers’ next meet is the Manchester Invitational on Saturday.
St. Francis Softball 14, Grace 13
Grace 8, St. Francis 6
Saturday’s doubleheader between Grace’s softball team and Spring Arbor was filled with drama.
The teams combined to score 41 runs on 62 hits across a mild afternoon at Coach Phil Dick Field.
At the end of the day, the teams split the doubleheader; the Cougars won the opener 14-13, but Grace had the last say with an 8-6 victory in game two.
Grace fell into an impossible hole in the first game and nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback.
SAU managed to generate four runs over the first two innings, putting the Lady Lancers into an early deficit.
Grace continued to struggle over the early innings, eventually falling behind 11-1 in the fifth inning. The Lady Lancers were in danger of losing early via the run rule, but Grace’s bats were just warming up.
Grace picked up two runs immediately in the bottom of the fifth when Jeri Ellis singled and Jaden Cardoso launched her first career home run over the left field fence.
Jessica Kaurich followed that up with a double, and she came home to score on a single by Carly Ruiz. That run allowed the game to continue.
SAU tacked on another run in the top of the sixth, which activated the run rule again. But Grace made good on its chance to counter in the bottom of the inning.
Grace’s first seven batters of the inning reached base safely. Ellis had a two-run single, and Britney Young and Ruiz also had run-scoring singles.
With two outs in the inning, Olivia Hess doubled (her second hit of the inning) to drive in two more runs and slice the lead down to 12-10.
SAU continued to score at will and scored two to lead 14-10.
Grace was undaunted in the bottom of the seventh. Ellis led off the inning with a single and later scored off a double by Britney Young.
Two batters later, Laikyn Lowe almost tied the score. With two runners on base, Lowe nearly homered. Her deep fly ball was just short of the fence, but the double still scored two and pulled Grace to within one at 14-13. But the final batter of the day struck out for Grace to finish the game.
Altogether Grace outhit SAU 20-17 in the opener. Ellis, Cardoso, Kaurich, Young and Hess each had three hits, and Ruiz notched two hits. Ellis and Kaurich plated three times as well.
In the second game, Grace took the lead early and held on late. The Lady Lancers scored three runs in the bottom of the first thanks to RBIs from Young, Ruiz and Lowe.
Grace scored two more in the third, but SAU rallied to tie the score 5-5 in the top of the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Grace plated three times for the go-ahead runs. Ellis broke the tie with an RBI single, and Young had a two-out, two-run double for what turned out to be important insurance runs.
The Cougars managed to score one time in the top of the seventh, but Grace held on for the two-run win.
Ellis hit 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI, and she also won the game from the mound. She pitched a complete game to register the victory.
Young hit 3 for 4 with three RBIs, and Kaurich was 3 of 4 with two runs scored. Cardoso plated twice, Ruiz was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Bethany Gardner finished 2 for 3.
The Lady Lancers will travel to Ohio on Monday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Lourdes. Grace is back home on Saturday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Bethel.
Taylor Baseball 22, Grace 8
Taylor 4, Grace 2
Grace’s baseball team was unable to hand No. 18 Taylor an upset on Saturday.
The Trojans completed the four-game sweep of the Lancers, winning 22-8 and 4-2 to conclude the weekend series.
In the opening game, Grace began the game with a strong start. The Lancers jumped out to a 8-3 lead after four innings.
Dalton Turner, Jaron Mullet, Alex Rich and Chris Griffin each had run-scoring hits in the first two innings. Griffin in particular was deadly. He had a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the first to go along with a three-run home run in the second inning.
A sacrifice fly from Rich allowed RJ Snyder to score in the fourth inning, and Grace held a comfortable 8-3 lead through five innings.
Unfortunately for the Lancers, Grace did not score again. Taylor, on the other hand, had two massive innings in store.
The Trojans plated nine runs in the sixth to stun Grace, and they added a 10-spot in the ninth to finish off the comeback. The Lancers committed at least one error in both of those innings to keep the Trojans’ inning going.
Jake Decker was strong at the start for Grace from the mound, striking out six batters in 5.1 innings.
Griffin batted 2 for 4 with four RBIs, and Snyder was 3 for 5 with two runs and one stolen base. Patrick Danforth earned one hit, was hit by a pitch twice and also stole three bases, and Rich finished with 1 hit, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Braden Compton also stole a base and scored a run as a pinch runner.
The second game was much different. Kameron Koch pitched the complete game for the Lancers, giving up four runs with eight strikeouts to give Grace a strong chance.
But the Lancers were much quieter offensively, tallying four hits across the seven-inning contest.
Grace plated one time in the third and once in the fourth, making the score 3-2 in favor of Taylor. But Grace did not score again despite having runners in scoring position twice in the final few innings.
Sam Newkirk and Griffin doubled in the defeat, and Newkirk and Jeff Pawlik each scored a run.
The Lancers will compete again next weekend with a four-game stint at Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Friday and Saturday.