Crete, NE — The Dordt University men’s track and field team finished as the runner-up at the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Championship held Saturday in Crete, Neb.
The Defenders accounted for 155 points and finished as the conference runner-up for the second consecutive year. Doane won the team title with 182 points; Concordia was third (129pts) and Mount Marty fourth (104pts).
Dordt athletes claimed titles in five events (4 individual and one relay), established one school record and qualified for nationals in three more events to highlight an outstanding weekend.
After winning conference titles on Friday (Ethan Summerhays – 10K, 4×800 relay), Dordt athletes claimed three more on Saturday.
Eric Steiger led a group of five Defenders to all-conference honors in the first running event on Saturday, the 3000m steeplechase. Steiger edged out Doane’s runner, Kalen Dockweiler, to win the championship with a time of 9:19.6. Nic Veldhorst was the third to cross the finish line (9:26.2), followed by Thaniel Schroeder in fourth place (9:34.86) and Peter Shippy in fifth with a personal best time of 9:39.7, ranking sixth all-time at Dordt. Zach Elbers was the fifth Defender to claim all-conference honors, placing eight with a personal best time of 10:08.
Joe Anderson won the 1500m championship in a school record time of 3:53.9 and finished just ahead of a pair of Concordia runners. Jebadiah Merkle (5th – 3:58), Trey Engen (6th – 3:59.6) and Riley Ruhaak (8th – 4:08) also claimed all-conference honors and scored points for the Defenders.
Cole Zevenbergen won the Defenders final GPAC championship, taking first in the 800m. Running in the second of three heats, Zevenbergen’s time of 1:56.39 held up against all of the times in the third and final heat. He edged out teammates Payton Mauldin (2nd – 1:56.46) and Trey Engen (3rd – 1:56.55). Merkle placed sixth (1:56.9) and gave the Defenders four all-conference4 entries.
Mauldin later finished third in a competitive and fast 400m while also meeting the NAIA A standard with a time of 48.0, second fastest in Dordt history. Luke Wagner earned all-conference honors with a seventh place finish and had a personal-best time of 49.39.
Mauldin, Zevenbergen, Wagner and Micah Brands teamed up to place second in the 4×400 with an auto standard time of 3:14.79. The Defenders time ranks ninth in the NAIA and is the fourth best in program history.
Grant Brouwer met the provisional mark and placed fourth in the high jump. Brouwer cleared a personal-best height of 2.05m, third best mark in the history of the program and 11th best in the NAIA this season.
Peyton Miller had a standout performance in the 400m hurdles, placing fourth with a personal best time of 54.72. Miller just missed the ‘B’ standard and now has the second fastest time in program history.
Five Defenders earned all-conference honors in the 5000m, led by Anderson in second place (15:18). Davis Tebben and Eric Steiger finished back-to-back in third and fourth place while both Bailey Vande Griend (7th) and Ethan Summerhays (8th) earned all-conference honors in their second event this weekend.
The Defenders 4×100 relay team of Wagner, Brands, Miller and Ryan Schober finished sixth to claim all-conference honors.
