RESULTS

LA CROSSE, Wis. - The #6 ranked Royals took on the #1 ranked UW-LaCrosse, #3 UW-Eau Claire, and Division I UW-Milwaukee at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Meet on Saturday. Landen Liu highlighted the day as he broke his own MIAC record in the 60 meter dash. Liu ran 6.73 seconds, besting his previous mark of 6.76 from last year. He placed 2nd overall and is now ranked 2nd in Division III. 

Grant Nelson, Josh Thomsen, Josh Sampson, and Jacob Parent earned 2nd place in a thrilling 4x400m relay. The Royals ran 3:15.41, getting edged out by UWL by just 0.10 seconds. Those stand as the 1st and 2nd fastest times in Division III this season.

Earlier in the meet, Parent and Nelson went 1-2 in the 400m dash. Parent won in 48.60, with Nelson right behind in 48.74. Parent is now ranked 6th in Division III and Nelson ranks 10th. 

The Royals had a terrific day in the 60 meter hurdles. Jayson Ekiyor led the way with a 2nd place finish, running a season best 8.01 seconds. That time ranks Ekiyor 5th in Division III. Josh Sampson ran a lifetime best of 8.09 seconds, taking 3rd place. That time ranks Sampson 7th in Division III. Josh Thomsen took 7th in 8.38 seconds. 

Bethel placed 4 athletes in the top 6 in the 800m run. Victor Lelinga led the way with 3rd place finish in 2:01.19. Drew Schmitz was 4th in 2:01.36, Eli Berg was 5th in 2:01.82, and Clark Nelson was 6th in 2:02.14.

In the field events, Sam Gardeen had the top finish for Bethel, taking 5th in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.52m / 14'10". Freshman Nick Bovitz had a lifetime best in the triple jump, leaping 13.15m / 43'1.75", taking 7th place. His jump is the top mark in the MIAC this season. 

Evan Larsen took 5th place in the weight throw with a lifetime best toss of 16.39m / 53'9.25". Larsen also took 6th place in the shot put, throwing 14.91m / 48'11", just 6cm off his season best.

The Royals will split their squad next week at they travel to UW-Stout on Friday and South Dakota State on Saturday.