Seven nab All-League honors at conference meet MARION - Grace’s track and field team had a memorable week at the 2019 Crossroads League Championships, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan.
Seven Lancers qualified for All-Crossroads League honors (top-three result). The men’s team placed fifth overall in the meet while the women were ninth.
Thomas Hickerson captured the league title in the javelin with a toss of 182-feet-7. Abbot Joy was right behind him with a personal-best heave of 169-7 to finish as the All-League runner-up.
Dylan Felger nearly claimed the 400-meter hurdles title, finishing second as a freshman in a time of 54.41 seconds which was 0.19 seconds behind the winner.
Felger also earned All-League honors in the 4x400 relay; he teamed up with Paul Brawner, Martin Schiele and Kyle Smith for second place in 3:18.60, a mere 0.03 from the top spot.
Smith was an All-League winner in the 800, placing third in 1:55.53. He also anchored the 4x800 relay to a sixth-place showing of 7:48.62, less than a second off the NAIA qualifying standard. Other members of the 4x800 included Brady Willard, Jonathan Balda and Brendan Hamilton.
Schiele was involved throughout the two-day tournament. Besides winning All-League in the 4x400, he helped the 4x100 to fourth place (Brawner, Felger, Connor Kitson) in 43.17. Schiele was also sixth in the 200 (22.22) and eighth in the 100 (11.11).
Isaac Brown was the final All-League competitor. He finished third in the triple jump at 41-8.75, and he also placed fifth in the high jump at 6-5.5.
The Lancers’ throwers had success with seven placers. William Shafer was fourth in the discus (146-3), Walker Hobbs was fifth in the shot put (47-11.5) and eighth in the hammer (139-3), and Caleb Brown was eighth in the shot put (47-2.5) and sixth in the hammer (149-0).
Emily Anderson, who returned from having her appendix removed, had a PR in the javelin of 116-7 to place fourth. Brooke Treadway also hit a PR in the discus with a mark of 125-6, good enough for sixth place.
Nordia Campbell was seventh in both the 100 dash (12.84) and the 200 (26.27). She also ran a leg on the 4x100 relay with Julia Malson, Alexis Williams and Suzanne Sickafoose, which finished seventh in 51.61.
Malson and Sickafoos teamed up with Makenzie Adams and Kaitlyn Mack to run a season best of 4:11.20 to end up 7th in the 4x400 relay. Mack was also seventh in the 400 hurdles at 1:09.50.
“I'm really proud of the way we competed this week. There were numerous season bests and personal bests, which is all we can ask for at our league championships,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “The Crossroads League has developed into one of the top conferences in the NAIA for track and field, and we certainly made our presence known. We will get a little rest, regroup and get ready for the NCCAA Championships.”
The Lancers will continue postseason play next week with the 2019 NCCAA National Championships, hosted by Grace at the Bernard and Linnie Key Track and Field Complex.
