FINAL RESULTS
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Saturday Bethel University played host to nine other track and field programs across all three divisions and NAIA, including the University of Minnesota, Concordia University(St. Paul), Augsburg, Northwestern (St. Paul.), St. Johns, Valley City State, Hamline, St. Olaf, and Macalester.
Against the tough competition Bethel was able to win and compete highly in a number of events. One of the most exciting races of the day came in the final event, where the Royal's 4x400m team gave the home crowd a display with a combined time of 3:21.91. The team comprised of
Jordan Spronk,
Anthony Puckett, Zac Schlegel, and
Rob LeMay finished five seconds ahead of the second place team and blazed in a speed that ranks No. 1 in the MIAC and No. 6 in the country.
LeMay and Schlegel had an outstanding race in the 600-meter dash as well, finishing first and second in the competition. Schlegel paced the group of runners, but was clipped at the end by LeMay as the two turned in times of 1:22.47 and 1:22.82. Both times are among the top three in the MIAC.
Along with turning in a stellar 4x400 relay split captain Jordon Spronk had a great 400-meter dash time, as 50.12 seconds enabled him to finish second, only behind a University of Minnesota runner. Spronk's time leads all opponents in the MIAC honor roll list thus far and ranks him fourth all time at BU.
Sophomore
Mark Rice ran a superb 60-meter hurdle race that placed the sophomore out of Maple Grove, Minn. in second, only losing to a Division II athlete, with a time of 8.78. Junior sprinter Nathan Saylor collected a couple personal records on the day, including a third place finish in the 60-meter dash (7.25), while
Gavin Woodland also turned in a personal best time in the 400-meter with a time of 51.79.
The Royals had a few entertaining distance races with Matt Schafer and
Matt Berens. Shafer ran the 800-meter dash in 1:56.48, only 1.5 seconds off the winners pace. Berens finished second in his one mile run with an exceptional time of 4:29.34.
Bethel faced some very fierce competition in the field events, especially in the pole vault. The University of Minnesota stole the top five places but the Royals claimed the next two spots. Gabe Hymer and
Anthony Puckett both cleared 4.45 meters in the pole vault. Senior
Ben Bursaw had a season best high jump of 1.91 meters, which placed him second in the men's high jump competition.
Most of the men's track team will be travelling to River Falls, Wis. next week for the Brooks Classic hosted by the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. With a limited season the countdown is on, as there are only four weeks until the MIAC Indoor Championships hosted by Macalester.
