RESULTS

NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The Bethel Royals men's track and field team placed 4th at the MIAC Indoor Championships this weekend. "I thought our men had a terrific meet," says Head Coach Andrew Rock. "Our big hitters delivered this weekend, but we also had several guys score us a bunch of points that we weren't expecting."

One thing that has come to be expected is domination in the 400m by the Bethel Royals. Senior Carl Klamm led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 400m. Klamm ran a season best 49.07 to win the race. Shawn Monroe and Isaac Erickson both ran personal bests of 49.95 and 49.97, respectively, to take 2nd and 3rd. Those times are the 8th and 9th best times in program history. Freshman Nolan Metz ran a personal best 50.43 to add 4 more points to the Royals total with a 5th place finish. Klamm also won the 600m with ease as he crossed the line in 1:20.36. Teammate Cooper Hitt added 2 points by placing 7th (1:24.05).

Monroe, Erickson, and Metz were joined by Joel Smith in the 4x400m relay. Those four took home the victory with their run of 3:20.52. The Royals did well in all three relays, placing 2nd in both the distance medley relay (DMR) and the 4x200m relay. Andy Barnhart, Joel Smith, Cooper Hitt, and Ike Mendel ran fearlessly to finish 10:30.47, which is the 4th best time in program history. Malachi Lossow, Brandon Loverude, Nic Jones, and Erickson came together to run the 5th best time in program history in the 4x200, 1:29.44.

"Malachi (Lossow) had an amazing day on Saturday," says Rock. Along with leading off the 4x200m relay, Lossow came back to run an indoor personal best in the open 200m of 22.55. He placed 5th in the event and is ranked 3rd on Bethel's all-time list. In the shortest event of the day, the 60m dash, freshman and two-sport athlete Nic Jones ran a personal best of 7.13 to earn 3 points with his 6th place finish. Joel Smith added 5 more points in the 60m hurdles, as he matched a personal best of 8.72, placing him 4th.

Andy Barnhart highlighted the distance events for the Royals. Barnhart led off the DMR on Friday, and doubled back in the 3000m run on Saturday. He went out with the leaders and held on for a massive 12 second personal best of 8:35.56 to place 4th. That time is the 3rd best in school history. Evan Hatton and Ezekiel Lelinga both scored in the 800m and 1000m races. In the 800m race on Friday evening, Hatton was 7th (1:58.62), while Lelinga was 8th (1:59.05). On Saturday, the 1000m was contested. Hatton placed 5th (2:33.09) and Lelinga ran a personal best to place 7th (2:33.99).

"Our multi-event athletes had an unbelievable weekend. Completely unexpected performances from those guys," says Rock. Freshman Lukas Walton placed 4th in his first ever heptathlon competition. Walton set personal bests in 6 of the 7 events (he was just .01 second off his best in the 60m hurdles) on his way to 4400 points. That is the 2nd best mark in Bethel program history. Kyle Stichman came away with a 8th place and scored a point for the Royals with his score of 4123. "Kyle is an incredibly hard worker and tough competitor," says Rock. "He wasn't a great heptathlete at the start of his career, but his determination and work ethic had turned him into a model of what it looks like to develop throughout a career." Stichman is now number 4 on Bethel's all-time list in the heptathlon.