RESULTS

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The Bethel Royals finished their 2021 indoor track and field season with a victory in the second dual meet this year against Hamline. The Royals outscored the Pipers 72-54. 

"The thing that continues to stand out is the fearlessness that we have been competing with," says Head Coach Andrew Rock. "We are putting it on the line, stepping into the uncomfortable and taking on the challenge of competing for personal bests. This is a tough sport and we have a lot of courageous people!"

SCHOOL RECORD

One week ago, Gabe Irons fouled several throws that would have broken the school record in the weight throw. Irons, along with Coach Josh Olson, continued to be aggressive and believe that records are made to be broken. That aggressiveness showed up again this week, but this time he broke the program record in the 35 lbs weight throw on three of his four throws on Saturday afternoon. Irons had a phenomenal series of tosses, culminating in his final throw of 18.35m / 60'2.5" breaking the previous record by a full meter. He is currently ranked 2nd in Division III in the weight throw.

SPRINTS

Captain Joel Smith led a trio of Royals through an impressive sweep of the 400m. Smith finished first in 49.60, followed closely by freshman Jacob Parent in 49.82, while Tyler Sealock ran an indoor personal best 50.45. Those are the three fastest 400m runners in the MIAC and all are ranked in the top 25 of Division III. Parent's time places him number 6 on Bethel's program best list.

Josh Sampson won two events on Saturday morning. Sampson started off the day with a victory in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.37 seconds. Later in the day, he won the 200m convincingly while racing around the track in 22.65 - over a second ahead of the nearest competitor. David Myers also scored points in those same two events. In the 60m hurdles, Myers was 2nd in 8.84 and in the 200m, he was 3rd in 23.96. 

DISTANCE

In the first event of the day, Bethel came away with a sweep of the 5000m run. Jon Sweeney ran hard from the front, gutted through the final mile and was rewarded with a personal best time of 15:38.04, 17 seconds better than his previous best time. That time puts him 5th on Bethel's all-time list. Sweeney was followed by freshman Reece Thompson in 2nd place (16:02.43) and Josh Halverson in 3rd (16:11.90).

Ike Mendel ran a gutsy race in the 3000m run to take 1st place. His time of 8:46.23 places him 2nd on the MIAC honor roll and is the 6th best time in program history.

Isaiah Hobus and Noah Meissner both contributed to the team point total in the mile. Hobus finished 2nd in 4:35.45 and Meissner was 3rd in 4:42.08.

In the 800m, Tad Stewart ran a personal best time of 2:04.98 for 2nd place. Travis Jensen took 3rd place overall with his time of 2:05.66.

FIELD

Along with a victory in the weight throw, the Royals earned another event title in the field, this time from Abe Schlegel. Schlegel won the pole vault with a season best jump of 3.80m / 12'5.5". 

In the other vertical jump, Luke Wiltshire earned 2nd place. His best high jump clearance of the day was 1.85m / 6'0.75".

Dan Johnson and Odera Onwualu joined Gabe Irons for an all-Royals sweep of the weight throw. Johnson threw a personal best of 14.82m / 48'7.5" which stands as the 8th best toss in program history. Onwualu took 3rd with a throw of 14.30m / 46'11". 

Lukas Walton scored a point for the Royals with a 3rd place finish in the pentathlon. In the only multi-event competition of the indoor season, Walton established himself as the 3rd best performer in program history with his score of 3319.

UP NEXT

The Royals have one more opportunity to compete indoors this year. Several Royals will head down to Wartburg College for their Division III Elite Meet on Friday, March 12th and Saturday, March 13th. The majority of the team will be watching the forecast closely, as they begin to prepare for the outdoor season. 

"We have a lot of thankful hearts on the team for the opportunity we have had to host these four meets," says Coach Rock. "It has truly been an amazing blessing!"

Bethel's first outdoor meet will be at Hamline University on Saturday, April 3rd. Until then, follow the Royals on Twitter and Instagram @bethelxctf to stay current with our team.