Hillsdale, MI - The Grace Christian University track & field squads traveled down to Hillsdale College this past Saturday for the "Wide Track Classic" and continued to gain momentum as they reached the later part of their indoor season. When the dust settled, two new school records emerged and the Tigers had some of their best efforts of the season.
"We still have a lot of work to do but we are ahead of the curve in many areas at this point in the year," commented Coach Verwey following Saturday's meet. "Our distance squad is trending towards improved health and fitness, which bodes well for the outdoor season, and the throwers and Kent in the multi-events continue to get better."
Women's Highlights:
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Sophomore Maty Temrowski (Fenton, MI) made her long awaited return to the track after sitting out the duration of last year's outdoor track season due to nagging leg pain and then taking time off following cross country this fall to nurse her legs back into track shape. Temrowski's time of 6:38 in the women's mile on Saturday was not her best time but certainly a positive sign moving forward.
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Senior Jocelyn Mann (Buchanan, MI) had another solid outing in shot put on Saturday, finishing with a best toss of 6.78m
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Freshman Kristina Brandenburg (Twin Lake, MI) also competed in the women's mile, crossing the line in a time of 6:55.
Men's Highlights:
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Senior Kent Herring (Evart, MI) competed in five different events on Saturday in preparation for the heptathlon competition at the NCCAA National Championships in two weeks. Ultimately, he ended up competing more than planned when he unexpectedly made it into the 60m hurdle finals after running a personal best time in the preliminary rounds. Herring's time of 10.77 seconds in the 60m hurdle finals broke the school record set two years ago by Ty McCaman and earned him an 8th place finish overall in the event. Herring also competed in high jump, pole vault, shot put, and the 400m dash on Saturday.
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In every single meet so far this indoor season, freshman Aidan Gansert (Fort Wayne, IN) has broken the school record in shot put and he continued that trend on Saturday. Gansert's toss of 12.31 meters shattered his record set just last week and moved him even closer to the NCCAA automatic qualifying mark of 12.80m. Gansert finished in 7th place overall.
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Senior Angel Becerra (Allendale, MI) had his breakout performance of the season in shot put, as well, on Saturday with a best throw of 9.03m.
Next up for the Tigers is their final regular season indoor meet at Aquinas College on Friday, February 2 at 5 PM. The "Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame Classic" will feature Aquinas College, Cornerstone University, Davenport University, Hope College, Muskegon Community College, Siena Heights University, and Grace Christian University. This will be the Tigers final chance to improve their marks in hopes of securing either an automatic or provisional invitation to the NCCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships next week.
