ROME, Ga. – School records were broken and All-Americans were forged for Grace College’s track and field team at the 2016 NCCAA Outdoor National Championships over the weekend.
The Lancers earned five All-American awards and qualified two more for the NAIA Outdoor Championships. The women’s team placed 11th out of 25 teams while the men were 12th out of 22.
“It’s special to see athletes come through a long season and perform at a high level in the biggest meets. There was a lot of that this weekend, so we are all very happy for the accomplishments,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “More importantly, we know how much these athletes have learned by struggling through adversity, overcoming tough situations, and conquering some fears. Those types of accomplishments will serve them well as their lives move forward.”
Jesse Feitz and Macallister Seitz starred for the Lancers as each produced two All-American results apiece. Feitz extended her senior season by hitting two NAIA standards, earning NCCAA All-American credentials in the process. She finished second in the javelin with a heave of 130-feet-3, breaking her own school record. Feitz was also second in the discus with a school-record mark of 139-11, topping Bridget Byers’s 20-year-old record (1996).
Macallister Seitz earned All-American status in both the discus and the hammer. He was third in the discus at 158 feet and third in the hammer at 164 feet — a school record.
Nathan Brown became Grace’s final All-American in the meet. He finished third in the decathlon with 5,926 points to set a school record. He won both the pole vault and the high jump in the competition.
Jo Boren hit the NAIA qualifying mark in the 400-meter run. She crossed the finish line in 57.50 seconds in the prelims then went on to shatter the school record in the finals at 56.73 seconds to finish fourth.
Additionally, the men’s 4×400 relay of Jared Poorman, Sam Hall, Joel Zook and Lance Taylor broke the school record and placed fourth in a time of 3:18.67.
Another relay, the men’s 4×800, placed seventh to score points for the Lancers. Hunter Reed, Tyler Houvener, Matt Lee and Hall ran a time of 7:53.34.
Hannah Treadway had PR’s in the discus and javelin, placing sixth and seventh respectively in those events.
Other performances of note included Micah Pollard (58.48) and Maggie Poorman (59.91) in the women’s 400; Taylor (49.51) and Jared Poorman (49.99) in the men’s 400; Hall (1:57.61) in the men’s 800; and Cameron Johnson (57.01) andNolan Miller (57.31) in the 400 hurdles.
The NAIA Outdoor Championships are held May 26-28 in Gulf Shores, Ala. Grace will send four student-athletes to the meet: Brown (high jump), Seitz (discus), Boren (400m) and Feitz (javelin, discus).