The men's track & field team closes the 2022 season with five new school records as the team participated in the NCCAA National Championships in Greenville, Illinois this week. Over the course of two days, the men's team competed in eight events and finished with six top-10 national performances.
"The nationals are our biggest stage and we were able to break several school records and ran a perfect meet this weekend," said Head Coach Ken Roach. "We have been patient all season to be sure we kept momentum and not peak too early. It all came together this week. I am most happy about how the team scored collectively. They fought hard together and put it all on the track for each other."
Thursday's competition began with two record-breaking performances from Luke Fressel as he set a new program record in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.93 and in the 200 meter race, crossing the line in 21.90 finishing 10th overall in both events. The men's team then put together a relay team to compete in the 4x800 meter race. At the end of day one under the lights, Sol Shafer, Douglas Stone and Marc Johnson toed the line for the 10,000 meter race. A tough 25 laps later, Sol Shafer ran to a 5th place finish with a time of 34:04.30. His teammate Douglas Stone crossed the line less than a minute later to earn the 10th place spot.
On Friday, Joseph Grassmid set another school record in the steeplechase racing to a 5th place finish with a time of 10:19.27. In the 5,000 meter race, Sol Shafer got off to a quick start and took a big lead after the first lap. The other racers would eventually catch up and Shafer completed the race at 16:45.46. The men's team broke two more program records in the 4x100 meter relay coming in at 43.82 and in the 4x400 meter relay finishing at 3:27.66.
After two days of competition, the men's team finished with 15 points tying College of the Ozarks for 12th place out of 21 teams.
"The platform of sports provided for us helps demonstrate God's love and reminds us daily our accomplishments are all for his glory," said Roach. "Our whole season is for God and all the glory to him."
With many personal and program bests, the 2022 season was one for the record books. The Bruins look forward to another strong season next year as they have several key runners returning.
