Eagles Compete at Kip Janvrin
Our final regular season track meet of the year was held at Simpson College in Indianola on Thursday and Friday. The temperature was a bit chilly both days, but there was only a slight breeze on Friday during the running events so the weather was nearly perfect. The Kip Janvrin Invitational, named after an Olympic athlete who graduated from Simpson College, is held each year in parallel with the Drake Relays track meet. This allows teams from all over the country who come for the Drake Relays to bring a few additional athletes along who compete at Simpson College. Our team enjoyed watching runners from the University of Iowa and Purdue battle it out for the top position in the 400 meter race, as well as other events including athletes from other NCAA D1 schools such as Texas Tech, Utah, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The meet started on Thursday afternoon with Freshman Jacob Kirkwood throwing the discus. His throw of 41.82 meters was good enough for 15th place in the field of 40 throwers. The first place throw was from a man who works as a personal trainer at a gym in Ankeny…he is trying to qualify for the Summer Olympics! Kirkwood was up again for the Faith team on Friday in the men's shot put event. He heaved the 16 pound ball a personal best 13.49 meters, placing 12th behind throwers from schools such as Kent State and Indiana Tech.
The Faith runners each participated in just one event each due to the Spring Banquet being held Friday evening. Freshman Evan McKinney ran the 400 meters around the track in 57.3 seconds, which was his PR for the season! Next up was Sophomore Rebecca Reinertson running the 100 meter dash in 14.65 seconds, Freshman Micah Cressey was unable to compete in the 100 meter dash this week due to a knee injury. Our last event of the afternoon was the 2-lap 800 meter run, which Freshman Wendy Busenitz completed in a time of 2:28.4. Her outstanding effort ended with a time that was just 4 seconds away from qualifying for the NCCAA National Track & Field Meet!
Thank you for your prayers throughout the spring season, and we ask for your continued prayers through the next 2 weeks as we prepare to head to Shorter University in Georgia from May 11th to May 15th. Kirkwood and Reinertson will be representing Faith, with Jake throwing both the discus and shot put, and Rebecca running the 200 meter dash. It is a 14 hour drive each direction, so please pray for safety on the roads!
