Grace College’s Michaela Buriff competes in the 100 hurdles at the Crossroads League Track and Field Championships Thursday afternoon. Photo provided

By Josh Neuhart
Grace College Sports Information

WINONA LAKE – A wet and chilly first day of the Crossroads League Championships did not slow down Grace’s track and field team on Thursday.

The Lancers broke a school record and had numerous events perform well.

The meet is being held at Grace’s Key Track and Field Complex, the first time Grace has hosted the event in program history.

Isaac Brown highlighted the opening day by claiming the high jump title for the league. He cleared 6-feet-8.75 to finish first.

Grace’s 4×800-meter relays shined on the rainy day. The men finished second to earn All-League recognition. Kyle Smith, Luke Smith, Maurice Macklin and Tanner Sallee finished in a time of 7:42.30.

The women’s foursome of Kaitlyn Mack, Makenzie Adams, Elizabeth Moore and Heather Plastow ended in 9:29.79 to set a new school record, beating their previous school record by three seconds.

The Lancers’ sprinters impressed in the preliminaries on Thursday. Gracious O’Connor and Nordia Campbell were among the top-four finishers in both the 100 and 200 races and will race in the finals on Friday. Isaac Findley had the second-fastest prelim time in the 200 (22.12) and will also compete once more on Friday.

Mackenzie DeLong produced a PR of 36-11 in the shot put to place seventh in the conference, and Caleb Brown was eighth in the men’s shot put (45-8).