RESULTS
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The Royals capped off their 2021 indoor "regular" season with a victory over Hamline and St. Kate's in a meet hosted by Bethel on Saturday, February 27th. In a year that has been less than regular, the Royals have continued to find a way to get it done, finishing their indoor campaign undefeated. Bethel racked up 79 team points, while Hamline scored 39, and St. Kate's produced 20.
"The team energy today was fabulous!" says Head Coach Andrew Rock. "We have a team full of people that love to celebrate each other's accomplishments, and we fed off of each other today."
SPRINTS
The top performance of the day came from senior captain Hannah Sankey in her signature event, the 400m. In her first open quarter of the year, Sankey blazed around the track time of 58.46 - the 2nd best time in the nation. Sankey led a Bethel sweep in that event with other national marks close behind. Mikayla Turek ran 58.99 for 2nd place (5th in Division III), and Brita Nordberg took 3rd in 60.01 (18th in Division III).
Kelsie Sealock stayed undefeated in the 60m hurdles and ran a season best 8.83 seconds - a time that places her 3rd on the Division III honor roll. AnnaGrace Nelson came away with a personal record of 9.56 and a 2nd place finish - a time that stands as the 10th best in program history.Â
Sealock (26.34) also won the 200m later in the day. In fact, the Royals swept the scoring positions with Grace Scott taking 2nd in 27.08 and Jireh Babalola taking 3rd in 27.16. Scott and Babalola went 1-2 in the 60m dash earlier in the meet. Scott ran a personal best 8.01, the 8th best time in program history. Babalola was just 0.05 second behind in 8.06 and Lauren Richards set a personal best in 8.22 to take 3rd.Â
DISTANCE
Freshman Annessa Ihde turned in one of the best 800m races in program history. In a race produced the top time in Division III this year, Ihde took 2nd place in 2:16.29. Her time is the 4th best time in program history, and the 5th best time on the national honor roll. Marissa Cutlan ran a terrific race to break the 2:30 mark indoors with her time of 2:29.11 for 3rd place.
There were several courageous races coming from the distance crew. Freshman Raina Moorjani set the pace for the field in the mile and held on for 2nd place in a season best 5:44.18. Ericka Swanson set off in the 3000m run at a blistering pace and was able to ward off fatigue to earn 3rd place and a personal best of 10:53.25.
FIELD
AnnaGrace Nelson led the point scoring in the field events for the Royals. Nelson took 1st place in the triple jump with her leap of 10.62m / 34'10.25" (8th best in program history) and earned 2nd place in the high jump (1.50m / 4'11"). Grace Perrenoud also added points in the jumps with a 2nd place finish in triple jump (10.58m / 34'8.5") and 3rd place in the long jump (4.88m / 16'0.25").Â
Jessica Lilland and Sadie Koelz shared a victory in the pole vault as both women cleared 3.25m / 10'8".
Emma Roethler had an excellent day in the shot put. Her toss of 12.37m / 40'7" made her the top collegiate finisher and also put her 4th on Bethel's all-time list.
In a rousing scene to end the day, Sally Paul was cheered on by 80 teammates as she raced her way around the track in the 800m run, the final event of the pentathlon. With all of the support, Paul came away with a personal best score of 2707 points, regardless of the fact that she was the lone competitor. Her mark puts her 5th on Bethel's all-time list and 11th in Division III.Â
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.Â
"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.
