Eagles Break School Records at Dutch Invitational

By Loretta Gamboe, Staff Writer

PELLA, Iowa: The Faith Eagles track and field team competed in the Central College Dutch Invitational this past weekend, where they faced competition from several NCAA Division II and Division III schools.  The men's team placed ninth overall, and multiple school records and personal bests were broken. 

For the women, freshman Chelsea Ratliff competed for the first time this season and outran opponents from much larger schools, such as Bemidji State University and Upper Iowa University, to place twelfth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:03.65 and eighteenth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 27.61. Her time in the 200-meter dash was just tenths away from qualifying for Nationals.

Several of the men placed in their respective events.  Josiah Brown, a freshman, broke two school records. He was tenth in the 3000-meter steeplechase (10:54.70) and sixteenth in the 1500 meter run (4:21.48).  Ryan Hughes also placed in the 1500 meter run, coming in twenty-sixth (4:34.93), which was seven seconds faster than his previous personal best.  Noah Zollinger finished seventeenth in the 400-meter dash.  Sawyer Gogerty and Jacob Stillwell both placed in several events, including the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and the 400-meter dash. 

Tanner Van Beek placed ninth in the javelin throw (40.68m).  Jacob Kirkwood placed fourteenth in the discus throw (41.36m) and nineteenth in the shot put (11.27m).  The men's team finished ninth overall, outcompeting a Division III opponent. 

"Overall the runners took advantage of the nice weather and turned in some great races," said Coach Sauser. "There were lots of positive things on the track at Central that we can look to build on as the season progresses."

 The Eagles will return to action this weekend at the Mustang Invitational in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.