The Bethel Royals had a busy week on the track. "At this time of year, we need to get the best meets for each individual, which makes for a hectic schedule," says Head Coach Andrew Rock. The Royals had two relay teams at the prestigious Drake Relays on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, while the majority of the team competed at Macalester on Thursday, and Gustavus on Friday. Several athletes ran at Simpson College in Iowa on Friday as well.
MACALESTER - Bolstroff Twilight
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Bethel took 19 men to the Bolstroff Twilight at Macalester on Thursday evening. The Royals took away several lifetime bests, highlighted by senior Wes Nelson in the hammer throw. Nelson threw 50.64m (166'2") under the lights was a lifetime best by 9 feet. That mark puts him 3rd on Bethel's all-time list. He took 7th overall in a field that included three throwers from Division I University of Minnesota.
Ezekiel Lelinga was the top finisher on the day, as he kicked hard down the homestretch to pass one Golden Gopher runner and move himself into 3rd place with a time of 1:57.22. Freshman Tyler Sealock ran the 400m hurdles for the first time in a Bethel uniform. Coming back from a hamstring injury, Sealock ran a very solid 57.30, placing him 5th. Boston Knighton-Johnson built on his recent success in the pole vault and cleared 4.12m (13'6.25") from a shortened approach and placed 6th in that event.
Â
SIMPSON - Kip Janvrin Open
INDIANOLA, Iowa - Three Royals were entered to compete at the Kip Janvrin Open hosted by Simpson College on Friday. Freshman Joel Smith was the first to compete as he raced his first 110m hurdles of the year. Smith came away with 16.40 seconds, which placed him 16th overall. Distance runners Ike Mendel and Andy Barnhart made the trip south in hopes of decent weather for the 5k. The entire field of runners got out to a fast start, as both Bethel athletes came through the mile in 4:45. Mendel moved up in the final mile to earn him a 13th place finish. His time of 15:16.84 is the 7th best time in program history. Barnhart ran a season best 15:39.35 for 28th place.
Â
GUSTAVUS - Drake Alternative
ST. PETER, Minn. - The main contingent of Bethel's team competed at Gustavus in the Drake Alternative Meet. This meet was moved up a day due to the poor weather forecasted, and the Royals responded with a multitude of season and lifetime bests.
The Royals placed in the top-3 in 5 different events. Freshman Trokon Karngar took home two 2nd place finishes on the day. Karngar raced the 400m hurdles for the first time in his career and ran a solid time of 59.37. He came back in the 4x400m relay to earn 2nd place with a time of 3:28.96 (Karngar, Micah Smith, Cooper Hitt, and Brendon Nuese). Fellow freshman Micah Smith continued his solid outdoor season by racing to a third place finish in the 400m with a time of 51.62. Smith came back to split 50.8 in the 4x400m relay. Jett Hutton-Lau earned his second lifetime best in two weeks as he ran 17.26 in the 110m hurdles. That time placed him 3rd overall. Senior Ty Van Lanen set a personal best in the triple jump by over a foot and launched himself into third place by leaping 12.55m (41'2").
Bethel also placed several more athletes in the top-8 in their respective events.
- 4th place
- 5th place
- 6th place
- 7th place
- 8th place
