Results
MARIETTA, Ohio - One of the most exciting races of the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet proved to be the last. Bethel's 1600 meter relay team broke its own school record that was set less than 48 hours before, and the team finished in second place with a time of 3:11.18.
The team consisting of
Taylor Ferda (Jr., Whitefish, Mont.),
Joel Quick (Jr., Johnston, Iowa),
Zach Schlegel (So., Woodbury, Minn.), and
Eric Rhode (Jr., Oakdale, Minn.) shaved more than a second off their previous best time of 3:12.47, which they earned in the preliminaries of the event on Thursday afternoon.
Mark Stockhowe (So., Burnsville, Minn.), who replaced Rhode on the team when he became injured at the conference championship meet, traveled with the team as an alternate. Sprints coach
Mike Fregeau said afterward, "As a coach, it's exciting to have five young men that can step in at any time and produce the times these guys have. Although Mark was an alternate, without him, the other four would have not been able to do what they did."
Their time in today's race also bettered the previous Division III season best. Four of the top five teams in the 4 x 400 meter relay came from the MIAC, with St. Thomas finishing first, and Gustavus and Hamline finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Ferda earned NCAA All-American status by finishing the 110 meter hurdles in fifth place with a time of 14.60 seconds. This is Ferda's first such award for outdoor track and field, though he also earned it for the 55 meter hurdles in 2008 at the indoor national track and field meet.
Tyler Hinrichs (Sr., Clara City, Minn.), competing in his first national championship run, finished eighth out of 12 with a time of 3:55.29. Hinrichs put together a stellar senior year, earning All-MIAC honors in cross country, and winning the mile run at the indoor track and field conference meet. He most recently won the 1500 meter run at the outdoor conference meet and set a new school record in the event at the Last Chance Qualifier meet to get an automatic qualifying time for the national meet.
Jay Quick (So., Johnston, Iowa) earned a 10th place finish in the high jump by clearing 2.03 meters (6 feet, 8 inches). This was Quick's second trip to the outdoor national meet in as many years, and he improved drastically over his 1.93 meter performance at the national meet last year.
As a team, Bethel earned 13 points, which was good for a tie for 21st place out of 81 schools to register points.
