The Event: 

• a busy week awaits the Dordt University women's track and field team as they will compete in three separate meets
• on Wednesday, April 22, most of the Defenders squad will take part in the Mount Marty Twilight in Yankton, S.D.
• up next will be the Drake Relays, a three-day event held at Bulldog Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, beginning on Thursday, April 23 and ending on Saturday, April 25
• a few Defenders (5000m, Steeplechase) will also compete at the Kip Janvrin Open on Friday night, April 24, in Indianola, Iowa

How to Follow / Important Links:

• for Mount Marty Twilight:
  • Live Results | Schedule of Events | Entries
• for Drake Relays:
  • Live Results | Schedule of Events | Entries
• for Kip Janvrin Open:
  • Live Results | Schedule of Events | Entries

Schedule Outlook:

• this is the fifth and final week of competition for the Defenders during the outdoor regular season
• the outdoor season is made up of five weeks of the regular season where the Defenders have scheduled eight meets, leading up to the conference championship in week six
• this year's GPAC Outdoor Championship will be on May 1-2 and hosted by Midland University in Fremont, Neb.
• following a "last chance qualifier" in Vermillion, S.D. on May 8, the Defenders, who qualify, will compete at the 2026 NAIA Outdoor Championships
• this year's outdoor championship will be in Asheville, N.C.

Last Time Out:

• the Defenders competed at the Red Raider Open last weekend, a two-day meet held at DeValois Stadium in Orange City, Iowa
• a limited number of Defenders competed on day two due to the cold, windy conditions
• both Fran Travis and Makenna Walhof hit qualifying marks in the hammer
• the Defenders won four events, two by Travis, one by Corinne Braun and the 4x400 relay
• Travis won both the hammer and discus, recording the No.2 mark in program history in the hammer
• Braun won the 1500m, her first race of the outdoor season
• Kayla Van Otterloo, Kaitlyn Wercinski, Ada Dekkers and Shelby Buwalda were members of the winning 4x400 relay
• Jenny Lumkes (6th) and Tabitha Buwalda (7th) had strong showings in their first heptathlon of the season
• five Defenders had all-time top 10 times / marks
• the Defenders registered 16 personal best times / marks
• Defender athletes recorded 40 top 10 finishes

National Qualifiers This Outdoor Season (5): 

• Makenna Walhof - Hammer (5th)
• Makenna Walhof - Discus (6th)
• Fran Travis - Discus (3rd)
• Fran Travis - Hammer (6th)
• Kaitlyn Wercinski - 400m Hurdles (27th)

All-Time Top 10's This Outdoor Season (19): 

• Makenna Walhof - Hammer (1st)
• Fran Travis - Discus (1st)
• Kaitlyn Wercinski - 400m Hurdles (2nd)
• Fran Travis - Hammer (2nd)
• Hannah Thong - 10,000m (3rd)
• Jenny Lumkes - Heptathlon (4th)
• Anna Heynen - 100m (T4th)
• Jeni Burtis - 10,000m (4th)
• Lynne Tormoehlen - Hammer (5th)
• 4x100 Relay - Heynen, Dekkers, Altena, Den Herder (5th)
• Tabitha Buwalda - Heptathlon (7th)
• Anna Heynen - 200m (7th)
• Joy Koole - 5000m (7th)
• Faith Minderhoud - 400m Hurdles (8th)
• Jessica Opfer - 10,000m (8th)
• Karly Champness - Pole Vault (8th)
• Ava Ingwersen - Javelin (9th)
• Avery Van Weerdhuizen - 100m Hurdles (10th)
• Courtney Joiner - 10,000m (10th)

GPAC Runners / Athletes of the Week (1): 

• Makenna Walhof - April 1

Rankings:

• Dordt moved up another spot in the latest edition of the USTFCCCA Rankings
• the Defenders are 14th with 144 points
• Dordt is one of three teams from the GPAC in the current top 25; Doane (3) and Concordia (13)
• 10 Defender entries are in the top 20:
  • Fran Travis - Discus (3rd)
  • Makenna Walhof - Hammer (3rd)
  • Makenna Walhof - Discus (6th)
  • Addy Crow - Steeplechase (10th)
  • Fran Travis - Shot Put (12th)
  • 4x400 Relay (13th)
  • Hannah Thong - 10,000m (15th)
  • Jeni Burtis - 10,000m (16th)
  • Jessica Opfer - 10,000m (19th)
  • Jada Koerner - Steeplechase (20th)

Top Performances This Outdoor Season (bold denotes last time out):

• 100m - Anna Heynen: 12.28
• 200m - Kailee Altena: 25.12
• 400m - Shelby Buwalda: 56.93
• 800m - Shelby Buwalda: 2:15
• 1500m - Addy Liston: 4:46
• 5000m - Joy Koole: 18:00
• 10,000m - Hannah Thong: 37:15
• 100m Hurdles - Avery Van Weerdhuizen: 15.96
• 400m Hurdles - Kaitlyn Wercinski: 1:03
• Steeplechase - Addy Crow: 11:20
• High Jump - Ada Smies: 1.59m / 5'02.50"
• Pole Vault - Karly Champness: 2.93m / 9'07.25"
• Long Jump - Taydem Graden: 5.31m / 17'05.25"
• Triple Jump - n/a
• Shot Put - Fran Travis: 13.39m / 43'11.25"
• Discus - Fran Travis: 49.11m / 161'01"
• Hammer - Makenna Walhof: 55.35m / 181'07"
• Javelin - Ava Ingwersen: 34.86m / 114-04"
• Heptathlon: Jenny Lumkes - 3,785pts
• 4x100 Relay: 48.0 (Anna Heynen, Ada Dekkers, Kailee Altena, Ayda Den Herder)
• 4x200 Relay: 1:46 Jenna Balt, Lindsay Grau, Allie Houser, Faith Minderhoud 
• 4x400 Relay: 3:53 (Ayda Den Herder, Kaitlyn Wercinski, Ada Dekkers, Shelby Buwalda)
• 4x800 Relay: 9:47 (Elizabeth Hoogland, Olivia Hoogland, Kyrin DeGroot, Ashlynn Davis)
• Sprint Medley: 4:15 (Kaitlyn Wercinski, Shelby Buwalda, Lindsay Grau, Arielle DeYoung)

Defenders in the Top 20 in GPAC Performance List (April 21) - 62

• 100m:
  • Anna Heynen - 9th
  • Kailee Altena - 14th
• 200m:
  • Kailee Altena - 8th
  • Anna Heynen - 12th
• 400m:
  • Shelby Buwalda - 3rd
  • Anna Heynen - 9th
  • Ayda Den Herder - 11th
  • Arielle DeYoung - 16th
  • Kayla Van Otterloo - 18th
  • Ada Dekkers - 20th
• 800m:
  • Shelby Buwalda - 1st
  • Arielle DeYoung - 5th
  • Addy Liston - 12th
  • Olivia Hoogland - 13th
  • Raegan Snieder - 20th
• 1500m:
  • Addy LIston - 3rd
  • Corinne Braun - 6th
  • Raegan Snieder - 8th
  • Olivia Hoogland - 11th
  • Addy Crow - 13th
  • Joy Koole - 14th
  • Kyrin DeGroot - 17th
  • Jeni Burtis - 19th
• 5000m:
  • Joy Koole - 2nd
  • Isabella Webb - 3rd
  • Jessica Opfer - 7th
  • Hannah Thong - 9th
  • Jeni Burtis - 11th
• 10,000m:
  • Hannah Thong - 1st
  • Jeni Burtis - 2nd
  • Jessica Opfer - 3rd
  • Courtney Joiner - 4th
  • Eden Sullivan - 17th
  • Olivia Graber - 20th
• 100m Hurdles:
  • Avery Van Weerdhuizen - 15th
• 400m Hurdles:
  • Kaitlyn Wercinski - 3rd
  • Faith Minderhoud - 8th
  • Sierra Scholten - 12th
  • Avery Van Weerdhuizen - 13th
  • Jenny Lumkes - 18th
  • Karly Champness - 19th
• Steeplechase:
  • Addy Crow - 2nd
  • Jada Koerner - 3rd
  • Macy Marshall - 5th
  • Elyse Zwart - 6th
• High Jump:
  • Ada Smies - 8th
  • Claudia Heethuis - 15th
• Pole Vault:
  • Karly Champness - 13th
• Long Jump:
  • Taydem Graden - 10th
• Shot Put:
  • Fran Travis - 2nd
• Discus:
  • Fran Travis- 1st
  • Makenna Walhof - 2nd
• Hammer:
  • Makenna Walhof - 1st
  • Fran Travis - 2nd
  • Lynne Tormoehlen - 8th
  • Maren Hettinga - 12th
• Javelin:
  • Ava Ingwersen - 14th
• Heptathlon:
  • Jenny Lumkes - 7th
  • Tabitha Buwalda - 9th
• 4x100 Relay - 5th (Heynen, Dekkers, Altena, Den Herder)
• 4x400 Relay - 2nd (Den Herder, Wercinski, Dekkers, Buwalda)
• 4x800 Relay - 3rd (Elizabeth Hoogland, Olivia Hoogland, Kyrin DeGroot, Ashlynn Davis)