A pair of Defender relays shined on day two of the NAIA Women's Outdoor Track and Field National Championships held today at Wildcat Stadium on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Ind.
First on the track was the Defenders 4x800 relay, who turned in an All-American performance with their third place finish in today's final. Seeded second coming into the championships and posting the fourth best time in Wednesday's prelim, Dordt was one of three teams in the hunt for the title heading into the final lap. The Defenders ended with their season-best time of 9:01.8, running seven seconds faster than both their prelim and qualifying time and a time that ranks second all-time in program history. British Columbia, courtesy of a 2:09 split on the final carry, took home the championship for the second consecutive year and finished with a time of 8:56.68. Grace (Ind.), the indoor national champion and No.1 seed overall, was second with a time of 8:59.51. Defender relay members include
Shelby Buwalda,
Anmarie Stuit,
Emilee Heynen and
Mika Kooistra.
Two hours later, that same quartet of Defender runners ran their second best time of the year in the 4x400 prelim to qualify for tomorrow's final. Dordt was second to Vanguard (Calif.) in heat two and needed to earn one of the at-large bids into the finals. The Defenders time, 3:50.81, was eighth fastest overall and ranks seventh on the all-time charts. Indiana Tech ran the fastest time (3:46.76) in today's prelim.
Defender Results:
- 4x800 Relay Finals
- 4x400 Relay Prelims
Friday's Line-Up:
- Elyse Kuperus - 3000m Steeplechase Final: 1pm
- 4x400 Final: 5:15pm
