RESULTS | DAY 1 RECAP
WAVERLY, IOWA - Finishing well is something that is synonymous with track and field success. That's exactly what the Bethel Royals did for their final meet of the 2021 indoor season. The Royals men placed 3rd as a team and the women placed 4th at the Elite Indoor Championships this weekend.
"We had a phenomenal weekend across the board," said Head Coach Andrew Rock. "We haven't seen a meet with this kind of top-end competition in 12 months and to see our athletes respond in such a big way was so fulfilling. To have our men finish 3rd and women finish 4th as a team is pretty special to us. It took everyone collectively to make that happen!"
That response to competition brought out historic performances, school records, meet champions, and many personal bests.
MEET CHAMPIONS
Sophomore Kelsie Sealock set a school record in the 60m hurdles in the preliminary round with a time of 8.67 seconds. She entered the final as the favorite and the national leader and delivered another outstanding performance. She blitzed the nationally ranked field and raced to a new school record and national leading time of 8.62, winning by 0.33. That time is historically good. In fact, outside of the national meet it is the 2nd fastest time in Division III over the past 5 years, and just 0.02 off the 10th fastest time in Division III history.
The final event of the day, the 4x400m relay, the Royals had no other goal than to take home a title. The quartet of Hannah Sankey, Kelsie Sealock, Britta Nordberg, and Mikayla Turek ran the best time in the nation this year to win the race in 3:54.07. Sankey led the race off in 58.57 and handed off to Kelsie Sealock in a tight race with Dubuque, Wartburg, and Loras. Sealock brought the baton around in a lifetime best split of 58.43. Britta Nordberg ran a terrific leg of 59.55 and handed off to Mikayla Turek who pulled away from the field to bring home the title with her split of 57.51.
ALL-TIME PERFORMANCES
The men's 4x400m relay team lost two of their key assets from last year's All-American team. However, that gave two Royals the opportunity to step up for their team. Joel Smith, Jacob Parent, Tyler Sealock, and Josh Sampson ran 3:16.46 in one of the most exciting, back-and-forth races of the meet, in which they finished 2nd. Joel Smith ran Bethel into 2nd place on the opening leg with a split of 49.01. Freshman Jacob Parent gave Bethel the lead with his split of 49.01 and handed off to Tyler Sealock. Sealock stepped up with the best split of his life in 49.78. Josh Sampson went for the win with a big move into the final lap and was rewarded with an incredible split of 48.65 while Wartburg held on to win the race.
Sampson also earned valuable points for Bethel in the 60m hurdles. He took 5th place with his finals time of 8.29 seconds. His preliminary round time of 8.16 is the 2nd fastest ever run in a Royal uniform and is the 6th best time in Division III this year.
Freshman middle distance runner Annessa Ihde ran what was maybe the boldest race of the day. In her first collegiate invitational meet, Ihde took off fearlessly in the 800m, secured the lead and held off some of the best Division III runners for over 600m. Her time of 2:16.67 placed her 6th overall.
In the shot put, Emma Roethler came away with a lifetime best toss of 12.47m / 40'11" as she placed 6th in the event. Her throw is the 3rd best in program history and puts her 30th on the Division III honor roll.
Grace Perrenoud, fresh off of her school record in the triple jump on Friday, competed in the long jump on Saturday morning. Perrenound continued her terrific weekend with a season best leap of 5.21m / 17'1.25" on her 6th and final jump of the day. That mark put her in 4th place.
Bethel had two freshmen competitors in the high jump on Saturday afternoon. In the women's high jump AnnaGrace Nelson competed in her 3rd event of the weekend. After her personal best numbers in the triple jump and 60m hurdles on Friday, Nelson earned 7th place in the high jump as she cleared 1.54m / 5'0.5". Luke Wilthshire cleared 1.87m / 6'1.5" in the men's competition to take 10th overall.
Cross country captain Ike Mendel took his talents to the track in the 3000m run. Mendel held on to the pack as it pressed the pace in the final 1000m and earned a 9th place finish. His time of 8:41.87 is a personal best and the 5th best time in program history.
UP NEXT
The Royals will move on toward their outdoor season. The first competition is scheduled for Saturday, April 3rd at Hamline University. Stay up to date with the Royals by following @bethelxctf on Twitter and Instagram.
