RESULTS

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel Royals won 6 events in a closely contested team battle against Gustavus in the second dual meet of the indoor season. The Royals fell to the Gusties in the final team score, as Bethel racked up 74 points to the Gustavus team total of 80.

"We had a terrific meet today," said Head Coach Andrew Rock. "We turned in some exceptional performances, which are indicative of what we have seen in practice over the last few weeks. I am excited about the progression we are seeing and I have confidence with where we will be over the next several weeks. It was also really great to host Gustavus today as we match up with them really well."

Here is how the events broke down for the Royals:

SPRINTS

Joel Smith turned in the biggest performance of the day for Bethel as he took 1^st place in the 400m. In his first race of the season, Smith took the lead at the cut and never looked back. His time of 49.54 outpaced teammates Jacob Parent (2^nd, 50.81) and Tyler Sealock (3^rd, 51.39) to lead the Bethel sweep. Smith is currently ranked 2^nd in all of Division III in the 400m.

Pole vaulter Abe Schlegel showed his wheels on the track as he took 1^st place in the 60m dash with a time of 7.39. Albert Smith nabbed a personal best in the 60m of 7.50 for 3^rd place. Smith also came back to earn another 3^rd place finish, this time, in the 200m (24.42).

Josh Sampson scored 3 points by taking 2^nd place in the 60m hurdles. His time of 8.30 is a season best and currently sits 5^th on the Division III honor roll. Freshman David Myers ran a personal best time of 8.74 that placed him 3^rd in the hurdles.

In the final event of the day - the 4x400m relay – Joel Smith, Trokon Karngar, Jacob Parent, and Lukas Walton came away victorious. Their time of 3:27.87 ranks them in the top-10 in Division III.

DISTANCE

Freshman Nathan Smith earned his second event win of his young career this week. In the 800m, Smith passed two Gusties in the final 50m and crossed the finish line first in 2:04.45.

Cross country captain Ike Mendel set a new personal best in the 3000m en route to a 2^nd place finish. Mendel's time of 8:52.18 also bumped him up to 8^th on Bethel's all-time list.

Noah Meissner took 3^rd place in the first mile of his collegiate racing career. He was able to take 7 seconds off his personal best time from the 1600m by running 4:38.86.

The quartet of Josh Halverson, Tad Stewart, Isaiah Hobus, and Noah Meissner took 2^nd place in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:17.15.

FIELD

The field events were led by a 1-2-3 sweep of the pole vault. Jake Twogood (1^st), Lukas Walton (t-2^nd), and Abe Schlegel (t-2^nd) all cleared 3.80m  / 12'5.5".

Gabe Irons won the weight throw with the second best throw of his career. His mark of 16.94m / 55'7" ranks him 7^th on the Division III honor roll. Senior Odera Onwualu earned a new personal best with his toss of 15.37m / 50'5.25". That mark put him into 2^nd place in the meet, and 5^th on Bethel's all-time list.

In the shot put, Gabe Irons threw the 16 lbs implement 13.70m / 44'11.5" which placed him 2^nd overall.

Freshman Luke Wiltshire had a terrific performance in the high jump. Wiltshire increased his personal best by 4 inches and cleared 1.93m / 6'4" and took 2^nd place in the event. Multi-eventer Trevor Wellman took 3^rd place with his jump of 1.68m / 5'6".

UP NEXT

The Royals will take to the track again on Saturday, February 20^th when they host St. John's at the SRC. Follow the Royals on Instagram and Twitter @bethelxctf for team updates.