Ethan Summerhays and the 4×800 relay won GPAC titles for the Defender men on day one of the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Crete, Neb.
Summerhays claimed the championship in the 10K, the final race on day one. The sophomore surged ahead for good early and won by a commanding 17+ seconds in a time of 32:06. Defender teammate Bailey Vande Griend was the runner-up and ran a personal best time of 32:24. A third Dordt runner, Aidan Vorster, took home a fourth place finish (32:59), giving the Defenders three all-conference finishes and 23 points in the event.
Dordt outlasted Doane and won the GPAC championship in the 4×800. The team of Dayton Brunsting, Cole Zevenbergen, Trey Engen and Payton Mauldin ran a time of 7:39.39, less than two seconds off the championship record, and four seconds ahead of the Tigers. Engen gave the Defenders the lead for good on the third carry and Mauldin held off a push by Doane’s anchor, Kingdon Hawes. Both teams met the NAIA A standard.
Brady Fergen earned all-conference honors with an eighth place finish in the pole vault. Fergen cleared a personal-best height (3.95m) and tied Drew Garrison (Doane) but lost the tie-break due to total number of misses on previous heights.
Both Joshua Van Hulzen and Kyle Baumert ran personal bests in the 110m hurdle prelims but did not advance to finals. Van Hulzen placed ninth (15.42) and Baumert was 10th (15.43).
Ryan Schober turned in a personal best in the 100m (11.33) and Josiah Merkle had a personal best mark (27.3) in the javelin.
Women’s Highlights:
The 4×800 relay and the distance crew highlighted day one for the Defenders at the 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at the Memorial Stadium in Crete, Neb.
The Defenders claimed the GPAC title in the 4×800 relay, taking first by more than five seconds over second place Morningside. The quartet of Emilee Heynen, Mika Kooistra, Bethany Ten Haken and Anmarie Stuit turned in a time of 9:12.2, just off their season best from the Drake Relays last weekend. They once again met the NAIA A standard and clocked the eighth fastest time in program history.
Four Dordt runners earned all-conference in the final running event on Friday, the 10,000m. Eden Winslow finished as the GPAC runner-up, placing second with a time of 38:51. Lucy Borkowski was not far behind, finishing fourth in a time of 39:37. Greichaly Ellens (7th – 40:11) and Sydney Stiemsma (8th – 40:40) also scored points for the Defenders.
Emma Bakker qualified for Saturday’s final in the 100m. Bakker was second in her heat (2) and ran the fourth fastest time overall to punch her ticket into the finals.
Three Defenders recorded personal best throws in the javelin; Faith Measel (27.13m), Lynne Tormoehlen (24.72m) and Kelsey Evenhouse (24.23m). Both Caitlin Brown (18.51) and Sydney Van Essen (18.58) ran personal bests in the 100m hurdles prelims but did not qualify for finals.
