The Dordt University track and field teams will make their 2022 outdoor season debut at its home meet, the Dordt Invitational, this weekend.
Events get underway on Saturday, April 2, at Open Space Park at 11am and will conclude around 6pm. .Dordt is one of eight seven teams scheduled to have athletes compete this weekend. Augustana, Briar Cliff, Buena Vista, Morningside, Northwestern and the University of Northwestern will also compete.
Defender Outlook…The Defenders finished third at last year’s GPAC Outdoor Championship with 115 points, trailing only the conference champion (Concordia) and Hastings. They were one of three teams in the GPAC to score over 100 points.
Dordt returns 19 entries who claimed all-conference honors in an event (top 8 finish), including three individuals (Emma Bakker – 400m, Jessica Kampman – 3000 Steeplechase, Cassie Brandsma – High Jump) who won a conference title. All three Defender relays finished among the top three as well (4×400 – 2nd, 4×800 – 2nd, 4×100 – 3rd).
Dordt athletes earned All-American honors in three events, two relays and one individual event. The 4×800 relay won the national championship and brings back three athletes (Mika Kooistra, Bethany Ten Haken, Anmarie Stuit) and the 4×400 relay returns three runners from a sixth place finish (Stuit, Kooistra and Emma Bakker). Cori De Jong placed fifth in the high jump and claimed the national honor.
The Dordt University men’s track and field team will also be making its 2022 outdoor season debut at the Dordt Invitational, this weekend. Dordt is one of seven teams scheduled to have athletes compete this weekend. Augustana, Briar Cliff, Buena Vista, Morningside, Northwestern and the University of Northwestern will also compete in the men’s meet.
Defender Outlook…Dordt finished as the GPAC runner-up at last year’s conference championship hosted by Concordia in Seward, Neb. The Defenders scored 137 points, second to GPAC Champion Doane (235.5pts). Dordt recorded 33 all-conference entries in 2021, 26 of which return this season.
Nic Veldhorst is back for his final season after winning the GPAC title in the steeplechase last season. All four athletes who ran in the first place 4×800 relay (Lance Van Zee, Cole Zevenbergen, Jebadiah Merkle, Payton Mauldin) return and three of the four members of the winning 4×400 are back (Mauldin, Micah Brands, Luke Wagner). The Defenders 4×800 relay later went on to win the NAIA Championship in Gulf Shores, Ala.
