Gulf Shores, Alabama — Grant Brouwer earned All-American honors and four individuals and a relay qualified for their respective final to highlight day two for the Defenders at the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Brouwer, now a three-time All-American in the high jump, achieved the national honor for the first time during the outdoor season. The junior cleared 2.05m (6’08.75), good for a fifth place finish. Brouwer was perfect on his attempts leading up to the height he ended on (6-9.75).
The Defenders 4×800 relay was the first event on day two to qualify for the finals on Friday. The team of Cole Zevenbergen, Jebadiah Merkle, Trey Engen and Payton Mauldin won their heat and recorded the fourth fastest time overall (7:33.16). Both Engen and Mauldin ran 1:52 splits while Merkle’s second carry (1:53) put his team in front for good. Zevenbergen opened with a 1:55. The Defenders time ranks fourth all-time in program history.
Mauldin returned to the track three hours later to win his heat and and qualify for the 800m finals on Friday. Mauldin crossed the finish line with a time 1:52.7.
Three Dordt runners, Nic Veldhorst, Eric Steiger and Peter Shippy, all qualified for the finals in the 3000m steeplechase. Running in an all-out downpour, Veldhorst was third overall (9:24.75), followed closely by Steiger in fourth place (9:25). Shippy closed with a 1:14 split on his final 400m to finish eighth in his heat, 14th overall, and earn the final spot into Friday’s final.
In the final relay event on day two, the Defenders 4×400 narrowly missed the final with a fourth place finish in heat one. The team of Micah Brands, Luke Wagner, Peyton Miller and Cole Zevenbergen ran a season-best time (3:14.25), fourth fastest in program history, and finished eighth overall.
Women’s Results:
The Dordt University women’s track and field team qualified all three of its events for their respective finals on day two of the NAIA Outdoor Championship held in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The Defenders 4×800 relay began the historic day by winning their heat by five seconds with the fastest time in Thursday’s prelim (9:04.8). Emilee Heynen put the Defenders in front for good with a 2:13 split on the second carry after Bethany Ten Haken put her team in good position on the first leg. Anmarie Stuit followed with a 2:15 while Mika Kooistra delivered a time of 2:17 on the anchor while begin encouraged to take it easy over the last 150m. Dordt’s time ranks fourth fastest in program history and was five seconds faster than No.1 seed Taylor (Ind.), who had the second best overall time in the prelims.
Emma Bakker was up next for the Defenders in the 400m semifinal and did not disappoint as the senior qualified for the finals with a personal-best time of 55.78. Bakker finished third in her heat and had the fifth fastest time overall. Her time today ranks third all-time in program history.
In the third and final event, the Defenders 4×400 relay team of Stuit, Heynen, Kooistra and Bakker finished second in heat one to advance to Friday’s final. They crossed the finish line with a school record time of 3:45.5, three seconds faster than the previous best (3:48.5) set in 2017. Dordt had the fifth fastest time overall in the prelim.
