Lancers Enjoy Successful League Meet
MARION – Grace’s track and field team had numerous All-League honorees at the 2016 Crossroads League Championships.
The meet, held Thursday and Friday at Indiana Wesleyan, saw Grace earn two individual league champions. Jo Boren won the 400-meter race in 58.00 seconds, and Raven Arellano took the 5000 crown in a school-record time of 18:24.71. Both runners set personal records in their winning moments.
On Thursday in the prelims, Micah Pollard ran the fastest 100 dash time in school history at 12.28 seconds. She finished second in the finals at 12.57 to earn All-League status.
Pollard and Boren teamed up to finish 2-3 in the 200 as the pair both were named All-League. The duo also joined forces with Maggie Poorman and Paige Kindig to finish second in the 4×100 relay. Boren also placed eighth in the long jump and was sixth in the 4×400, overall placing in five different events.
“We had some people who couldn’t compete because of injuries, but many others really stepped up this weekend. Jo [Boren] and Micah [Pollard] did what you hope seniors will do and put themselves out there in multiple events and helped scored 44 points. Raven [Arellano’s] run in the 5000 was amazing. She ran over a 30-second personal best and just pulled away from the field,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond.
Kindig set a school record on Thursday in the pole vault at 10-feet-8, placing seventh, and Poorman was fifth in the 400.
For the men’s field team, Nathan Brown was eighth in the high jump and was seventh in the javelin. Macallister Seitz was third in the discus for All-League honors at 154-6 and was fifth in the hammer, and Caleb Dudeck ended eighth in the hammer.
For the women’s field team, Hannah Treadway and Jesse Feitz starred. Feitz was fourth in discus and fifth in the javelin, and Treadway finished fifth in discus and seventh in shot put.
The men’s relay teams impressed. The 4×100 unit of Cameron Johnson, Joel Zook, Jared Poorman and Austin Keisling set a school record of 43.37 to place sixth. The 4×800 squad of Hunter Reed, Tyler Houvener, Matthew Lee and Sam Hall qualified for NCCAA Nationals and ended in fifth place, and the 4×400 foursome of Zook, KeJuan Leek, Lee and Poorman placed fourth.
In the 400 hurdles, a pair of freshmen excelled. Johnson crossed the finish line in 57.23 for fifth place, and Nolan Miller was not far behind in eighth.
Other men’s runners to place include Hall (800, fifth place), Poorman (400, sixth) and Houvener (1500, seventh).
“The men’s team got points from all different areas — sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws — so it was a solid all-around performance. With most of the squad coming back next year, it will be exciting to see how the team moves forward,” Raymond said. “It was great to see Macallister [Seitz] earn All-League honors and the throwers overall have a very good weekend. I thought Jared [Poorman] had a breakthrough performance to run under 50 seconds in the 400, and Sam [Hall] didn’t look like a freshman as he ran a great race in the 800.”
The Lancers will travel to Rome, Ga., on May 13-14 for the NCCAA Outdoor Championships.