Day 2 Results
NORTHFIELD, Minn. - After having one of their best MIAC Indoor meets ever, the Royals went out with a bang yesterday as they won both relay events which helped the team to a third place finish. Bethel finished with 121.5 points and only trailed St. Thomas with 163 points, and Hamline with 156 points.
The Royals started off the day strong as the 4x200 meter relay team of
Gavin Woodland (Fr., Waconia, Minn.),
Mark Stockhowe (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.),
Jordan Spronk (So., Pipestone, Minn.), and
Zach Dahl (Jr., Edina, Minn.) cruised to victory in a time of 1:30.62 seconds. But the highlight of the day came at the very end of the meet when the 4x400 meter relay team made up of
Taylor Ferda (Sr., Whitefish, Mont.),
Rob LeMay (Fr., Maplewood, Minn.),
Zach Schlegel (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.), and
Eric Rhode (Sr., Oakdale, Minn.) edged out St. Thomas by two-tenths of a second to win in 3:18.99.
Bethel also had some strong individual performances on the day.
Dan Greeno won the 3,000 meter run in 8:34.26 which surpassed his previous school record set earlier this year. Schlegel placed fifth in the 600 yard dash with a time of 1:13.93, while
Matt Neufeld (Jr., Mankato, Minn.) finished in eighth with a time of 1:15.00. In the 200 meter dash, Spronk ran a strong race finishing fourth in a personal best time of 22.72, while Rhode placed eighth in 23.04. "I thought I would be tired for the 4x2 (4x200 meter relay)," said Spronk. "But I just let it all go and ended up feeling awesome."
In the field events, the Royals were able to score 19.5 points from the high jump alone.
Jay Quick (Jr., Johnston, Iowa) won the event with a leap of 6 feet 7.5 inches.
Eric Atherton (Sr., Roseville, Minn.) and
Benjamin Bursaw (So., St. Louis Park, Minn.) each had season bests as they finished second and seventh respectively. Atherton cleared 6 feet 6.25 inches while Bursaw jumped 6 feet 2 inches.
Bucky Dixon (Fr., Hayward, Wis.) also earned a couple points by finishing seventh in the shot put with a 46 foot 2.5 inch throw.
For the Royals, Quick is the only athlete that has hit an automatic qualifying mark for the national meet. But a handful of other athletes have hit provisional qualifying marks and will find out tomorrow whether or not they will be competing in the national meet which will be held next weekend at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. The rest of the squad will take a much needed break as they rest up for the outdoor season which begins on April 10 when the team will head to Des Moines, Iowa for the Jim Duncan Invitational.
