Cedarville, OH - The Grace Christian University Track & Field teams sent two athletes to this past weekend's NCCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships at Cedarville University. Representing the Tigers were senior Kent Herring (Evart, MI) in the men's heptathlon and freshman Aidan Gansert (Fort Wayne, IN) in men's shot put.
Referred to as a "multi event", the men's indoor heptathlon consists of seven events over the course of two days. On Friday afternoon, Herring competed in the 60m dash, long jump, shot put, and high jump. Saturday's events were the 60m hurdles, pole vault, and the 1,000m run. Points are accumulated throughout each event based on best performances and the total points at the end determine the final standings.
Herring's total of 3,219 points was 479 points higher than his previous school record set back in December. Ultimately, Herring improved in every event compared to his previous heptathlon competition at Saginaw Valley earlier this season. The most significant factor in this was the fact that he scored points in every event, whereas, in the past, the pole vault and high jump events have proved tricky for Herring.
At the Championships this weekend, Herring's strongest results were in the 60m dash (7.78 sec.), long jump (5.32m), shot put (8.80m), and the 1,000m run (2:57.56) where he finished 3rd place in the race. His clearance of 1.55m in high jump tied his previous best mark from outdoor track last season, as well. By surviving in the hurdles (10.86 sec.) and pole vault (2.45m), Herring was able to secure the 7th overall place in the heptathlon and score team points for Grace at Nationals.
Freshman Aidan Gansert has had a storybook freshman season debut in shot put. Although Saturday's effort at Nationals was not what Gansert was looking for (11.88m), he is optimistic and excited for his chances going forward into the outdoor season over the next few months. With his eye set on the Outdoor National Championships in South Carolina this May, Gansert is hungry for continued improvement to improve upon his result from the Indoor Championships.
The entire Grace Christian University Track & Field program is now looking ahead to its first outdoor meet of the season on March 23 at Indiana Wesleyan University.
