The Dordt University men's track and field team won two titles and finished second as a team at the 2026 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Championships held this weekend at Heedum Field in Fremont, Neb.
Grant Busker won the lone individual conference title for the Defenders, earning gold in the high jump early this afternoon. Busker and Jackson Kessler from Doane both cleared the winning height (1.98m / 6-6) but Busker was awarded the title based because he cleared the height on his first attempt while Kessler did so on his second. This is the second GPAC Title, first at the outdoor championship, for Busker (won the GPAC Indoor title in the high jump earlier this year).
The Defenders other conference title came last night in the 4x800 relay as the team of
Trace Obbink,
Luke Swanson,
Ezra Landman and
Kaden Van Wyngarden crossed the finish line first with a NAIA 'B' qualifying and season-best time of 7:39.
Dordt accounted for 123 points and finished second among the 11 teams competing, 14 points in front of third-place Northwestern. Doane won the team title with 248 points.
Notes:
- five Defenders, led by Levi Landman, finished among the top eight and scored points in the steeplechase
- Landman ran a personal-best time and came across the finish line in second place at 9:41
- Lawson Burkhart was close behind in fourth place and also ran a personal-best time (9:47)
- Truman Johnson (5th), Isaac Fagan (6th) and Sammy King (8th) also placed among the top eight
- Aidan Schaap, competing in his second decathlon, earned all-conference with a seventh place finish and personal-best point total (5,706pts)
- Schaap posted personal-bests in six of the 10 events and won the long jump event in the decathlon
- the sophomore finished among the top five in:
- long jump - 1st
- shot put - 4th
- high jump - T4th
- Kaden Van Wyngarden led a trio of Defenders who scored points and placed among the top eight in the 1500m
- Van Wyngarden, running in the first heat, posted a time of 3:56 and finished third overall
- Hudson Hamilton (5th) and Justin Kroeze (7th) both ran a 3:58 time
- Noah Schroder and Jacob Schmoll earned points in the 400m with a fourth and eighth place finish
- Schmoll also scored points in the 100m (8th place)
- Will Gutzmer ran a personal-best time and placed sixth in the 400m hurdles
- Ezra Landman placed eighth and ran a personal-best in the 800m
- the Defenders had three runners in the top eight in the 5000m, led by Caleb Van Beek (5th)
- Derek Heyen finished fifth and earned points in the discus and shot put
- Ben Van Eps placed third in the javelin
This is the seventh consecutive year the Defenders have finished among the top two teams at the GPAC Outdoor Championship (Note: the 2020 championship event was called off due to CoVID). Dordt extends its streak to eight straight years of finishing among the top five.
The Defenders scored points (top 8 finishers) in 18 of the 22 events scored; scoring notes listed below:
- Dordt scored 43 points in field events,, led by the pole vault (11) and hammer (10)
- Dordt scored 19 points in the three relays, third most among the 11 teams
- 10 - 4x800, 5 in the 4x400, 4 in the 4x100
- the Defenders totaled 71 points in the running events, led by steeplechase (21) and 1500m crew (12)
National Qualifying Marks / Times (1):
GPAC Champions (2):
All-Time Outdoor Top 10's (8):
Outdoor Personal Bests (30):
Defenders in the Top Eight / All-Conference; Relays - Top Three (28):
- 100m (1):
- 400m (2):
- 400m Hurdles (1):
- 800m (1):
- 1500m (3):
- Steeplechase (5):
- 5000m (3):
- 10,000m (3):
- Decathlon (1):
- Discus (1):
- High Jump (1):
- Javelin (1):
- Long Jump (1):
- Pole Vault (2):
- Shot Put (1):
- 4x800 Relay - 1st: 7:39 (Obbink, Swanson, Landman, Van Wyngarden)
