Over the weekend, the Bruins track and field teams competed in the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears Open putting up good results before going to the NCCAA National meet in a couple of weeks.

"Our focus for this meet was finding out strength in the Lord," Head Coach Ken Roach said. "Around this time of year is when the athletes start to get tired, especially with school also coming to a close, but the team was able to overcome their tiredness and put up good results."

The throwers began this meet for the Bruins early Saturday morning. Joshua Garian, Misha Gray, Josiah Mackey, and Jon Vance all competed in the discus throw. Garian led the way throwing 39.90 meters which placed him in the top six. Gray threw 28.35 meters followed close by Mackey throwing 27.49 meters. Vance closed the Bruins efforts with a throw of 22.23 meters. Gray and Vance used this meet to gain throwing marks anticipating a decathlon in a couple of weeks.

Women's javelin was next where Grace Bailey and Abby Woo found themselves in the top eight again. Bailey finished fifth overall with a throw of 31.02 meters. Woo came in eighth place throwing 27.74 meters, only a hundredth of a meter from seventh. Briana Felter and Mia Marks joined the throwing party as well with Felter throwing 22.86 meters and Marks throwing 21.77 meters.

In the men's javelin, Joshua Landry stood out again. Throwing a personal best of 56.70 meters, Landry finished second overall and now looks forward to a good spot at the national meet. Fresh off a discus throw, Misha Gray threw the javelin 37.60 meters. Sam Ashley rounded out the Bruins with a throw of 32.67 meters.

Ian Flynn and Michael Leonard competed in the long jump competition. Flynn finished in fifth place with a jump of 5.77 meters followed closely by Leonard jumping 5.52 meters which placed him in sixth.

Jon Vance represented the Bruins in the high jump. Still new to this event, Vance was able to get over the bar at 1.75 meters.

Vance then went over to throw shot put with Josiah Mackey. Mackey threw the shot 9.61 meters followed by Vance at 9.08 meters.

The first event on the track was the 3000 meter steeplechase. Trenton Goldsmith, only competing against one other guy, raced to a personal best time of 10:21 which put him in first place. This time also qualifies Goldsmith to run at nationals.

In the men's 1500 meter race, Daniel Kyle set a personal best time of 4:39 followed by teammate Luke VanDenBerghe at 4:44.

Robert Ulsh and Michael Leonard both competed in the 110 meter hurdles. Ulsh finished in sixth place with a time of 17.27 seconds, and Leonard finished in seventh place at 20.02 seconds.

Next was the women's 100 meter dash where Briana Felter, Melody Davis, and Mia Marks all took the track. Felter had a top eight finish at 13.51 seconds followed closey by Davis at 13.60 seconds. Marks closed the Bruins efforts at 14.22 seconds.

In the men's 100 meter dash, Leo Mota led the way for the Bruins sprinting through the line at 11.37 seconds. Misha Gray came next at 11.57 seconds followed by Kyle Williams at 12.02 seconds.

A big group of girls came next in the 400 meter dash for the Bruins. Finishing consecutively in places sixth through tenth, this is how it went: Lauren Jones raced to a great time of 1:09.58 with Liz Farley right behind her at 1:09.87. Kristen Dodds was next at 1:11.47 with Hannah Cohen right behind her at 1:11.81. Mia Marks finished at a time of 1:12.93 in her third event of the day.

The men's 400 meter dash was highlighted by William Stark running an incredible time of 51.11 seconds putting him in sixth place overall. Leo Mota and Kyle Williams were back on the track, and Mota raced to a time of 53.70 seconds. Kyle Williams finished behind him at 58.42 seconds.

Kristen Dodds, Lauren Jones, and Hannah Cohen all doubled up and raced in the 800 meter race shortly after the 400 meter. Dodds ran 2:46 to come in seventh place. Jones, close behind, finished in eighth place with a time of 2:47. Cohen got through the finish line at 2:51.

Joel Batres ran a season's best in the men's 800 meter race with a time of 2:01! Daniel Kyle and Luke VanDenBerghe were both back on the track where Kyle barely beat out VanDenBerghe again with a time of 2:17. VanDenBerghe came through at 2:19.

Melody Davis represented the Bruins in the women's 400 meter hurdles. She came in third place with a time of 1:12.

And for the men's 400 meter hurdles, it was Robert Ulsh racing for the Bruins. He also came in third place at 59.7 seconds.

Liz Farley raced the 200 meter dash shortly after her good time in the 400 meter. Representing the Bruins, she crossed the finish line at 31.19 seconds.

Kyle Williams was back on the track for the third time in the men's 200 meter dash. He raced to a time of 25.70 seconds.

The 5K closed the day on the track at the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears Open. Cora Gagne ran a quality time of 22:53 while only racing against one other competitor. 

Evan Seaman continued his big season and won the 5K. Racing to a time of 15:58, he came in first place 12 seconds ahead of second place.

Full results from Saturday's meet can be found  here. 

The Bruins put themselves in a great position to do very well at the NCCAA National Championships in just a couple of weeks. Many athletes competed in several events and pushed their bodies to the limits.

After the meet, Coach Roach shared that idea saying, "Battling end-of-season fatigue, the team channeled their courage, overcoming limitations with standout performances that will pave the way to nationals."