LA CROSSE, Wis. – The No. 18 ranked Bethel men's track and field squad set three program records, two MIAC all-time records, and earned top-10 marks in Division III in five events at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational at UW-La Crosse on Saturday, February 4
.
The team of
Joel Smith,
Grant Nelson,
Josh Sampson, and
Jacob Parent raced their way to the top mark in Division III in the 4x400m relay on Saturday night. In a nail-biting battle with UW-La Crosse, the Royals held off the Eagles 3:16.87 to 3:17.08 – the top two times in Division III this season.
Jacob Parent took the lead from the gun in the 400m dash and didn't look back. His time of 48.69 ranks as the second best mark in Division III this year and is the top time in the MIAC ahead of teammate
Joel Smith's mark of 49.53 from today. Smith's time ranks him 22
nd in Division III.
Freshman phenom
Landen Liu's historic season continued with two event wins, two program records, and two MIAC all-time records on Saturday. Liu first ran a personal best of 6.78 in the 60m dash, winning the race and breaking his own record of 6.80 from two weeks ago. Liu came back in the 200m to run an astounding 21.58. That time set a new standard in the MIAC by breaking the previous record of 21.96 (Joe DeFrance, St. Thomas, 2009) by 0.38 seconds. Liu is now ranked seventh in Division III in the 60m and second in the 200m.
Jayson Ekiyor ran his way into the record books in the 60m hurdles with his victory. Ekiyor tied Taylor Ferda's record from 2009 with his winning mark of 8.11 seconds. That time currently ranks him fourth in Division III.
Josh Sampson took fourth in the race on Saturday in 8.31 and
David Myres was fifth in a personal best time of 8.34 seconds. Bethel now have athletes ranked 4
th (Ekiyor), 9
th (Sampson) and 30
th (Myres) nationally in the 60m hurdles.
Reese Thompson added another top five finish for the Royals. Thompson was fourth in the mile with a time of 4:32.08.
The Royals will continue competing next week at the UW-Stout Invite on Friday, February 10
.
