Crete, Nebraska — Dordt University men’s track and field athletes won seven titles (6 Individual and 1 relay) and set two meet records at the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Indoor Championships held Saturday in Crete, Neb.
Payton Mauldin won two individual championships and was also on the winning 4×800 relay team. Mauldin was named the GPAC’s co-Athlete of the Meet, along with Zach Turner (Doane), accounting for 24 points for his team. Eric Steiger won a pair of championships while Jebadiah Merkle and Davis Tebben each claimed one title.
Dordt finished a close second in the team standings, scoring 177 points, 21 behind Doane. The Defenders have finished as the GPAC runner-up in two of the last three years (2020) and won the championship in 2021. Mount Marty was a distant third with 87 points.
Mauldin won both of his individual titles, the 600m and 800m, in a span of one hour. At around 5:30pm, Mauldin crossed the finish line in 1:20.95 to win the 600m, overtaking Nathan Simons (Mount Marty) on the final lap. He followed with a close win in the 800m around 6:30pm, edging out Tyler Carney (Morningside) by less than a second.
Steiger won his first championship, the mile, in one of the closest and most competitive races of the day. He registered a time of 4:17.3, less than a second in front of Kalen Dockweiler (Doane) and Dordt teammate, Joe Anderson. Both Steiger and Anderson met the ‘A’ standard. Steiger later took first place in the 3000m (8:46.8) and was joined by five of his teammates in the top eight (Davis Tebben, Thaniel Schroeder, Joe Anderson, Peter Shippy and Aidan Vorster).
Merkle set a meet record in winning the 1000m, crossing the finish line in 2:29.88. Merkle met the NAIA ‘A’ standard once again and was joined by teammates Trey Engen (2nd) and Anderson (5th) in the top eight.
Tebben began the afternoon with a first place showing in the 5000m where he set a meet record with a time of 14:55. He meet the ‘A’ standard. Dordt had six of the top eight finishers in the 5K; Schroeder (2nd), Vorster (3rd), Shippy (4th), Ethan Summerhays (6th) and Bailey Vander Griend (8th).
The 4×800 relay team of Mauldin, Carson Elbers, Lance Van Zee and Peyton Miller took first with a time of 8:02.
30 Defender entries earned all-conference honors (top eight finishers), as well as both relays. All are listed below:
60m Hurdles:
Joshua Van Hulzen – 4th: 8.5
Kyle Baumert – 5th: 8.51
600m:
Payton Mauldin – 1st: 1:20 (NAIA Auto)
Cole Zevenbergen – 5th: 1:22
800m:
Payton Mauldin – 1st: 1:59
Dayton Brunsting – 5th: 2:01
Lance Van Zee – 7th: 2:03
1000m:
Jebadiah Merkle – 1st: 2:29 (NAIA Auto)
Trey Engen – 2nd: 2:30 (NAIA Auto)
Joe Anderson – 5th: 2:33
Mile:
Eric Steiger – 1st: 4:17 (NAIA Auto)
Joe Anderson – 3rd: 4:17 (NAIA Auto)
Trey Engen – 6th: 4:27
Riley Ruhaak – 7th: 4:33
3000m:
Eric Steiger – 1st: 8:46
Davis Tebben – 2nd: 8:48
Thaniel Schroeder – 5th: 8:59
Joe Anderson – 6th: 9:04
Peter Shippy – 7th: 9:04
Aidan Vorster – 8th: 9:05
5000m:
Davis Tebben – 1st: 14:55 (meet record)
Thaniel Schroeder – 2nd: 15:25
Aidan Vorster – 3rd: 15:25
Peter Shippy – 4th: 15:25
Ethan Summerhays – 6th: 15:27
Bailey Vander Griend – 7th: 15:45
Hepathlon:
Grant Brouwer – 3rd: 4,489pts (NAIA B)
Devin Bos – 8th: 4,223pts (NAIA B)
High Jump:
Grant Brouwer – 5th: 1.96m
Pole Vault:
Luke Bousema – 3rd: 4.2m
4×400 – 3rd: 4:24 (Brands, Merkle, Zevenbergen, Mauldin)
4×800 – 1st: 8:02 (Elbers, VanZee, Miller, Mauldin)
