LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Bethel University track and field squad sent a pair of relays and two individuals to the UW-La Crosse Final Qualifier meet over the last two days. The event was held as the last chance for squads to hit qualifying marks for the NCAA Championships set to take place May 27-29 in Greensboro, N.C. at the Irwin Belk Track Complex.
This year the NCAA will take the top 19 women, 17 men, and 14 relays on the
Division III honor roll to the national meet. Qualifiers will officially be announced Friday afternoon at NCAA.com.
The women's 4x400m relay squad of
Hannah Sankey,
Kelsie Sealock,
Britta Nordberg and
Mikayla Turek kicked things off in style Wednesday evening with a second-place finish in a time of 3:48.37. Besting their time from the MIAC Championships by just over three seconds they move up into the top-10 nationally with a season-best time.
Bethel's 4x400m relay team of
Jacob Parent,
Tyler Sealock,
Lukas Walton, and
Joel Smith ran a season-best 3:14.59 shaving off 1.23 seconds from their MIAC Championship time. It will be official tomorrow but nationally the Royals should be top 10.
Hannah Sankey ran a lifetime best in the 400m finishing first among the field in a time of 56.30. She edges her MIAC Champion mark in just under a second while running the second fastest 400m time in program history. Nationally the mark moved her from top 25 in the event to top 10.
In the 400m hurdles
Mikayla Turek crossed the finish line in 1:04.48