Jessica Kampman and the 4x800 relay qualified for nationals to highlight day one for the Dordt University women's track and field team at the Drake Relays. This is the first of three days at the 113th annual event held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
Kampman set a school record and hit the 'A' standard in the 5000m with a time of 17:29, breaking the old record held by Michelle Steiger (17:33) in 2011. Kampman, the lone NAIA runner among the 27 athletes to compete, finished less than a second ahead of the auto mark and has the top time in the GPAC, 19th fastest in the NAIA. The senior had a great final lap, moving up five spots over the final 400m, to place 14th overall.
The Defender team of
Shelby Buwalda,
Anmarie Stuit,
Mika Kooistra and
Emilee Heynen finished second overall to Central Missouri (NCAA D-II) but easily hit the NAIA 'A' standard with their season-best time of 9:08.88, 16 seconds under the qualifying mark. Today's time on the Blue Oval currently puts the Defenders with the top time in the NAIA and is the seventh fastest time all-time in program history. All four Dordt runners finished with a split at 2:18 or under with two (
Shelby Buwalda and
Emilee Heynen) with a 2:16 carry. The Defenders were in third place after the first two legs but moved into second on the third carry by Stuit.
Kristine Honomichl and
Bailey Beckman both competed in the 5000m and long jump, respectively, at the Kip Janvrin Open. Honomichl finished the 5K in 33rd place with a season-best time of 18:04, second fastest in the GPAC. Beckman was the top NAIA finisher and placed 16th overall with a jump of 5.18m in the long jump.
Friday's Defender line-up at Drake Relays:
- 4x100 Relay Prelims - 9:18am
- 4x400 Relay Prelims - 3:03pm
- Sprint Medley Final - 6:18pm
- 4x200 Final - 7:22pm
