Results
MOORHEAD, Minn. - The 2009 version of the Bethel men's indoor track and field team set out to improve upon their fourth place finish from a year ago at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championships. They did just that by finishing third and along the way, three Royals earned the title of conference champion in his respective event.
Zach Schlegel (So., Woodbury, Minn.) took top honors in the 600 yard dash with a time of 1:13.52, which was more than half a second better than his nearest competitor. Schlegel also went on to help the 4 x 400 meter relay team set a new school record for the second week in a row, this time by .32 seconds with a time of 3:21.13, which was good for second place at the meet. Other members of the relay team included
Eric Rhode (Jr., Oakdale, Minn.), who again earned an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 400 meter dash and a second place finish with a time of 49.68 seconds;
Taylor Ferda (Jr., Whitefish, Mont.), who also met NCAA provisional qualifications with a time of 7.69 seconds in the 55 meter hurdles; and
Joel Quick (Jr., Johnston, Iowa), who finished seventh in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.83 seconds.
Joel's younger brother,
Jay Quick (So., Johnston, Iowa), became the conference champion in the high jump for the second year in a row by clearing 2.00 meters (6 feet 6.75 inches), while
Ben Bursaw (Fr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) finished in third in the high jump by clearing 1.94 meters (6 feet 4.25 inches). Meanwhile,
Tyler Hinrichs (Sr., Clara City, Minn.) earned his first conference champion title with a win in the mile run at 4:22.96. Hinrichs also placed second in the 1000 meter run with a time of 2:31.36.
Other notable finishes for Bethel included
Dan Greeno's (Jr., St. Michael, Minn.) third place finishes in both the 3000 and 5000 meter runs with time of 8:45.19 and 15:08.96, respectively.
Jay Quick, Ferda, and Rhode have all earned NCAA provisional marks and will wait to see if they will be participating in the indoor track and field national championship next weekend at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
