The Bob Jones University track & field teams wrapped up their season on a high note as two Bruins finished on the podium to earn All-American status as the men's and women's teams competed at the NCCAA National Championships on May 9-10 in Columbia, South Carolina.
"The team performed amazingly well," said Head Coach Ken Roach. "Coming into the meet, we knew we had chances in some events. However, as a whole, we doubled those predictions. The seniors lead this team from day one, and we showed a lot of resilience. The challenge laid out to the team was more than just performance though, it was to keep a mind of service to others. To support each other and show Christ through our performances."
The Bruins made their way to Columbia, South Carolina on Thursday afternoon as they would compete against athletes from 28 other NCCAA institutions.
Joshua Garian made his nationals debut in the discus as he was the first Bruin in competition on Thursday. On his second attempt he threw a distance of 31.97 meters.
Up next in the javelin, Joshua Landry finished ninth in the preliminaries to advance to the finals. In his first throw of the finals he threw a distance of 52.55 meters for a new school record. A lot of variables came together for that throw, and he finished third overall to take the podium and be named the first All-American in field events for Bob Jones.
On the women's side, Grace Bailey threw a new school record of 29.22 meters in her first attempt in the javelin. Teammate Abigail Woo fouled her first two attempts before finishing her time at nationals with a throw of 21.62 meters.
Back on the track, Luke Fressel toed the line in his heat of the 100 meter preliminaries. He won his heat with a time of 10.82 seconds to earn a spot in the finals on Saturday. After a brief break, Fressel was back on the track Thursday evening for the 200 meter prelims. A massive race in the 200 allowed him to advance to Saturday's finals as the number two seed.
The men and women each fielded a team for the 4x800 meter relay on Thursday as both teams finished six in the event earning points for the Bruins.
At 8:00 p.m. Liesl Heinz and Cora Gagne lined up for the 10,000 meter race. At the gun, Liesl stuck with a pack of six girls early on and then led the group for several laps. With 20 laps down and five remaining, three girls began to separate themselves. Despite trying to push through the final laps, Liesl finished fifth overall with a personal best of 39:59.77.
Evan Seaman and Marc Johnson wrapped up the first day of competition with the 10k race. Both started out strong as Evan set the pace for a few laps. He continued to work to stay with the leaders as he fought for an All-American position, but he crossed the finish line at 33:24.85, just a second out of third place.
Bright and early Friday morning, Liesl Heinz was back on the track for the 5k. She raced hard and finished ninth overall with a time of 19:46.55. Sol Shafer followed after for the men's 5k where he raced to a time of 16:16.75.
After a short intermission of events, the Bruins came around to cheer on Daniel Garian in the shot put. Daniel narrowly missed out on a PR as he went a distance of 12.73 meters to finish 13th out of 22 competitors.
The 4x100 relay teams then took their positions on the track. The women saw their fastest time of the season crossing the finish line at 55 seconds flat before the men's team raced to a time of 45.49.
It was a competitive field in the women's 1500 as Joy Hast finished with a time of 5:25.15.
Alyssa Marks was just shy of setting a new record in the 400 meter as she ran around the track to a time of 1:01.70.
In the finals of the 100 meter dash, Luke Fressel raced to a personal best of 10.65 as he finished second overall to become the second Bruin of the meet to earn a spot on the podium.
Misha Gray won his heat in the 400 meter hurdles with a strong performance to place sixth overall with a time of 58.31.
Back on the track, Luke Fressel charged around the track in the 200 meter finals. It was neck and neck as a runner from Campbellsville edged him out by a hundredth of a second to see Luke come in fourth place.
In the final event of the national meet, the Bruins put together a men's and women's 4x400 meter relay team. Both teams put together their best times of the season to close out their time in Columbia, South Carolina.
The men's team concluded the meet with 32 points while the women's team contributed eight. Full results from the NCCAA National Championship meet can be found
here.
"This has been a great year, and it is my prayer that we can continue to support and allow God's work in this sport," said Head Coach Ken Roach.
