RESULTS
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Bethel Royals were at full strength for the first time this outdoor season at the Hamline Invitational. "All things considered, I thought it was a great meet," says Head Coach Andrew Rock. "It was cold and rainy, but we approached today with a lot of fire and came away with some terrific early season performances."
Leading the way was senior Carl Klamm. Klamm - a 400m specialist - put all of Division III track and field on notice in his signature event. He won the race that featured two Division I national qualifiers in 47.71. That is currently the top time on the NCAA Division III honor roll. "We knew Carl was fit, but we were not expecting him to run that fast today," says Rock. In that same 400m race, Shawn Monroe took 4th place (49.51) and Isaac Erickson took 7th (49.90).
Both relay teams placed well, as the squad of Brandon Loverude, Joel Smith, Evan Hatton, and Nolan Metz won the 4x400 in 3:19.92. The 4x100m team of Nic Jones, Tyler Sealock, Malachi Lossow, and Isaac Erickson placed 2nd with a time of 43.02, which is the top time in the MIAC this season. Joel Smith also ran the 400m hurdles earlier in the day and earned 2nd place in the event. Smith's time of 54.63 currently has him 11th on the Division III honor roll. In the other hurdle race - the 110m hurdles - freshman Lukas Walton ran 16.75 and earned 7th place. Malachi Lossow ran into a headwind in the 100m dash, yet opened up his season with a solid time of 11.34 and a 3rd place finish.
In the distance events, sophomore Ezekiel Lelinga had a lifetime best in the 1500m race. He ran 4:01.99 for 3rd place. Lelinga also came brought the 4x400m "B-squad" from 30m back to win in an exciting heat. Freshman Ike Mendel ran his first 5k on the track at Bethel. He opened up with a time of 15:26.23, good for 5th place in the race. Senior Evan Hatton raced hard despite getting tripped up in the 800m to take 6th place by running 1:57.81. Freshman Cooper Hitt had a lifetime best in the 800m of 1:58.45 and earned 7th place by winning the second heat.
Wes Nelson led the charge in the field events for the Royals. The senior thrower tossed the hammer 45.79m (150'3") for 5th place. In the long jump, multi-sport athlete Nic Jones lept 6.19m (20'3.75") for 7th place. Ty Van Lannen also earned a 7th place finish with his 11.56m (37'11.25') leap in the triple jump. Boston Knighton-Johnson was the top pole vaulter for Bethel. He placed eighth in the event by clearing 3.84m (12'7.25").
The Royals will compete again on Saturday, April 13th. Bethel will take their team to the University of Minnesota to compete at the Minnesota Spring Open.
