Grace Tracksters Produce Well At TaylorUPLAND – Grace’s track and field team won a pair of events and also set a school record on Saturday at the George Glass Invitational, hosted by Taylor University.
Isaac Brown broke his brother Nathan’s prior school record in the high jump. He cleared 6-feet-8.75 to hit the NAIA “A” qualifying standard.
The Lancers finished first and second in the men’s javelin throw. Thomas Hickerson won the event with a toss of 178-7, and Abbott Joy was runner-up at 161-6.
The men’s 4x800-meter relay squad also finished first. Brady Willard, Jonathan Balda, Brendan Hamilton and Kyle Smith crossed the finish line in 8:01.70.
Balda, Smith and Hamilton teamed up with Dylan Felger in the 4x400 to finish second at 3:29.05, and Smith was also eighth in the 400 at 50.95.
Elijah Brooks produced a personal-best time of 9:59.08 to finish second in the 3,000 steeplechase, and Korry Hamlin (15:53.51) and Ben Rankin (15:57.79) both broke the 16-minute barrier in the 5,000.
Grace’s men were well-represented in the throwing events. Walker Hobbs placed eighth in the shot put and hammer throw, William Shafer was sixth in the hammer and seventh in the discus, and Caleb Brown ended eighth in the discus.
On the women’s side, Nordia Campbell ran 12.75 in the 100 dash to place fifth, and she was seventh in the 200 at 26.40. She also ran in the 4x100 with Julia Malson, Alexis Williams and Olivia Lugibihl, which ended in third place (51.43).
Malson, Williams, Kaitlyn Mack and Makenzie Adams placed fifth in the 4x400 in a time of 4:19.63, and Mack was also fourth in the 400 hurdles at 1:10.06.
Jessica Zvers returned from a long layoff (injury) to run at strong 5,000 meter race in 19:35.23, and Jenna Duff also competed in the high jump for the first time this year after recovering from an injury. Duff placed sixth at 4-6.
Next weekend the Lancers will travel to the Huntington Invitational on April 13.
