RESULTS

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - After nearly 11 months, the Royals are back on the track again! On Saturday, Bethel took on Hamline in a dual meet format winning the head-to-head competition, 73-52.

"The thing that stood out to me today was the way we competed with joy and gratitude for the opportunity to be back together in a competitive setting," says Head Coach Andrew Rock. "I looked at my team today and I thought to myself that this group is amongst the most resilient group of people I have been around. I can't even describe exactly how they do it, but they just seem to continually bounce back from difficulty and end up joyful. It's inspiring to be around."

That inspiration sparked six event wins for the Royals. Bethel went one-two-three in two different sprint events. In the 60m hurdles, Josh Sampson (8.50) took first, freshman David Myers (8.85), and multi-eventer Lukas Walton (8.91) held off a Hamline hurdler for thrid. Bethel also swept the 200m with freshman Jacob Parent won his first collegiate track event by running 22.89, while holding off a charging Tyler Sealock (23.19) who secured second place. Abe Schlegel ran a terrific race from the final heat to take third place in 24.02.

Bethel also came away with a convincing win in the 4x400m relay. The team of Walton, Parent, Sealock, and Sampson ran 3:28.92 and won the race by 13 seconds. 

Ike Mendel provided some drama in the distance events. Mendel timed his kick perfectly nipping a Hamline runner at the line in the mile. His time of 4:30.51 gave him the victory by just .06 second. Isaiah Hobus took third in the same race with his time of 4:41.34.

Freshman Nathan Smith opened his collegiate career with a win in the 600m. Taking the lead entering the final lap, Smith held on with his time of 1:29.01. Noah Meissner took second in the 800m with a time of 2:06.10, and Tad Stewart took 3rd by running 2:08.95.

The field events were headlined by a one-two-three finish in the weight throw. Gabe Irons won the weight throw with a toss of 16.27m/53'4.5", the best opening meet mark of his career. Odera Onwualu earned second place with his toss of 14.25m/46'9" and Dan Johnson completed the Royal sweep by throwing the 35 pound implement 13.51m/44'4". Irons also scored three points for Bethel in the shot put by finishing second with a toss of 13.68m/45'5.75". Freshman multi-eventer Trevor Wellman threw 11.61m/38'1.25" for thre place.

In the jumps, Luke Wiltshire and Lukas Walton tied for second place in the high jump as both men cleared the six foot barrier (1.83m/6'0"). Abe Schlegel (3.65m/11'11.75") and Alex Sunderman (2.45m/8'0.5") earned second and third place, respectively.

"Today was a great example of our team performing extremely well when they had every reason not to," says Rock. "I'm very proud of today's effort and it meant a lot to have our first meet back be at Bethel with the support of so many administrators, coaches, and support staff who gave us a chance to host today!" 

The Royals will host three dual meets in February. Bethel will compete against Gustavus on Feb. 6, St. Ben's/St. John's on Feb. 20, and Hamline again on Feb. 27. Follow @bethelxctf on Instagram and Twitter for updates!