The Dordt University men's 4x400 relay qualified for nationals and three Defenders ran a school record time in the 100m to highlight the final day of competition at the University of South Dakota Early Bird Invite held in Vermillion, S.D.
Following a day where six Defenders qualified for nationals, one more Dordt entry, the 4x400 relay, hit the 'B' standard and pushed the national qualifier list to seven after three weeks. The team of
Levi Schelhaas,
Peyton Miller,
Cole Zevenbergen and
Payton Mauldin turned in the Defenders lone first place finish today, winning the relay with a time of 3:17.07. Today's time is currently No.1 in the GPAC and ranks ninth in the NAIA.
 Another Defender relay, the 4x100, finished fifth and missed the 'B' standard by .19 seconds this afternoon. The team of Schelhaas,
Ryan Schober,
Logan Franken and
Kyle Baumert crossed the finish line in 41.94, third fastest in the GPAC and No.4 in program history.Â
Three Defenders ran a school-record time in the 100m, led by
Logan Franken who finished 14th in the 81-runner field with a record time of 10.68. Schelhaas was just .01 seconds behind and in 16th place (10.69) while Schober finished 25th and crossed the finish line in 10.8. The previous record was held by Noah Imperial (10.86) and set in 2019.
Baumert finished 10th and narrowly missed the finals with a personal-best time in the 110m hurdles. The senior crossed the finish line in 15.28 and currently sits fifth in the GPAC and No.6 all-time at Dordt.Â
Grant Brouwer posted a pair of top 10 finishes to lead the Defenders in the field events. The senior tied for eighth in the high jump (2.0m) and placed 10th in the triple jump with a leap of 13.54m which currently sits third in the GPAC.Â
Final numbers from the weekend for the Defenders:
- 7 national qualifiers
- 19 top 10 finishes
- 25 times / marks in our all-time top 12
- 31 personal bests
National Qualifiers:
Defenders in the Top 10 (from Saturday):Â
- 800m:
- 110m Hurdles:
- Kyle Baumert - 10th: 15.28
- No.5 in the GPAC
- No.6 in program history
- personal best
- 4x100 - 5th: 41.94
- Schelhaas, Franken, Schober, Baumert
- No.3 time in GPAC
- No.4 time in program history
- 4x400 (A) - 1st: 3:17.07
- Schelhaas, Miller, Zevenbergen, Mauldin
- NAIA 'B' standard
- No.9 time in NAIA
- No.1 time in GPAC
- No.11 time in program history
- 4x400 (B) - 7th: 3:31.68
- Van Eps, Wagner, Bos, Elbers
- High Jump:Â
- Triple Jump:Â
- Grant Brouwer - 10th: 13.54m / 44-05.25
- No.3 mark in GPAC
- No.5 mark in program history
- Javelin:
- Jonathan De Haan - 8th: 49.09m / 161-01
Defenders in the Top 10 (Friday):
- 3000m Steeplechase:
- Peter Shippy - 2nd: 9:21.35
- NAIA 'A' standard
- personal best timeÂ
- No.3 time in the NAIA
- No.3 time in program history
- fastest time in the GPAC
- Thaniel Schroeder - 3rd: 9:24.04
- NAIA 'B' standard
- just .04 away from the 'A' mark
- personal best time
- No.7 time in the NAIA
- No.2 time in the GPAC
- No.6 time in program history
- 800m:
- Payton Mauldin - 3rd: 1:50.19
- NAIA 'A' standard
- No.3 time in NAIA
- No.3 time in program history
- fastest time in the GPAC
- Cole Zevenbergen - 9th: 1:56.4
- 400m Hurdles:
- Peyton Miller - 2nd: 54.0
- NAIA 'B' standard
- less than a second (.3) off from the 'A' mark
- personal best time by .7
- No.8 time in the NAIA
- No.2 time in program history
- fastest time in the GPAC
- 5000m:
- Joe Anderson - 1st: 14:44.6
- NAIA 'B' standard
- No.9 time in the NAIA
- No.3 time in program history
- fastest time in the GPAC
- 1500m:
- Trey Engen - 6th: 3:57.37
- No.7 time in program history
- personal best time by .11
- No.2 time in the GPAC
- 10,000m:
- Davis Tebben - 2nd: 30:49
- NAIA 'A' standard
- No.5 time in the NAIA
- No.2 time in program history
- fastest time in the GPAC
- Aidan Vorster - 4th: 31:30
- No.4 time in program history
- personal best time by 30 seconds
- No.2 in the GPAC
- Jacob Brouwer - 10th: 33:04
- No.4 time in the GPAC
- No.12 time in program history
Defenders With a Time / Mark in our All-Time Top 12, not listed above:
Personal Bests:
