Payton Mauldin won his second national title in an individual event and three Defender entries received All-American honors as the Dordt University men's track and field team closed out its indoor season on the final day of the NAIA Indoor National Championships held in Gainesville, Fla.
Mauldin, the reigning champion and No.1 seed in the 600m, successfully defended his title and won his fifth national championship for his career. Mauldin, in his classical race strategy, stayed within the pack over the first 400m and then surged ahead for the the final 200m to cross the finish line in a time of 1:16.11, over 1.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Oli Lifrange (1:17.76). This was Mauldin's second national title in an individual event and fifth overall, winning the 4x800 relay as a sophomore (2021) and claiming both the indoor and outdoor 4x400 titles last year (2024). Mauldin finishes his career with five national titles, 20 All-American honors, 21 GPAC titles and 29 all-conference performances.
Isaac Davelaar earned All-American honors for the second time in an individual event and first in the 600m. Davelaar placed third in his heat and fourth overall with a time of 1:18.40, just off his personal-best time that he ran in Friday's semifinal. The sophomore was an All-American in the 800m for the 2024 indoor season.
The Defenders 4x400 relay was the third and final entry to claim All-American honors, placing sixth in today's final. Davelaar and Mauldin ran the final two carries and were joined by
Ryan Schober and
Jacob Schmoll. The quartet ran a season-best time of 3:11.48 and placed third in their heat. This is the fourth consecutive indoor season the Defenders finished as an All-American in the 4x400 relay.
Dordt finished in a tie for 11th place overall in the team standings with 18 points, third most among the GPAC teams (Doane - 3rd, Midland - 6th). This is the seventh consecutive indoor season that Dordt finished in the top 20 and sixth straight year in the top 15.
