Grace College’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. – from gclancers.com
