Grace Competes At Grand Valley Open
ALLENDALE, Mich. – Grace’s track and field team had its final indoor meet before postseason begins on Saturday at the Grand Valley Open.
The meet was run on an oversized 300-meter track at Grand Valley, meaning the running times have been converted to a standard 200 track.
After those conversions, three of Grace’s times broke school records.
The women’s 4×400 relay team of Suzanne Sickafoose, Ashley Stoltzfus, Julia Malson and Lyne Camara qualified for NAIA Nationals with a school-record time of 3:56.74.
The men’s 4×400 also set a school record. John Green, Dylan Felger, Isaac Beatty and Kyle Smith posted a converted time of 3:22.03.
Felger also lowered his own school record in the 400 with a time of 48.67 seconds, qualifying for NAIA Nationals in the process.
Isaac Brown won the high jump with a height of 6-feet-7, and Nordia Campbell posted a personal best in the 200 (25.61).
Sickafoose (58.68) and Stoltzfus (59.39) each had a PR in the 400. Kyle Smith (1:56.13), Luke Smith (1:58.72) and Isaac Beatty (1:57.11) all had season-best times in the 800.
Korry Hamlin had a PR in the 3,000 race at 8:50.81, and Dimitri Margaritidis and Logan Rufenacht both posted sub-4:30 mile times.
“This was a big meet for us as we look forward to our indoor league meet in two weeks,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “It’s exciting to see hard work pay off with national qualifiers and school records, but we certainly aren’t satisfied. We still have work to do.”
The Lancers will take on the rest of the conference at the Crossroads League Indoor Championships. The two-day tournament will be held at Indiana Wesleyan on Feb. 14-15.