Columbia, South Carolina - The Grace Christian University Track & Field teams wrapped up their season with a successful appearance at the NCCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships this past week at Columbia International University in South Carolina.
The Tigers had three men and one woman who had earned either automatic or provisional entries into the meet. In track & field, Grace competes against division 1 schools even though it is a division 2 school. Despite being a smaller team than much of their competition, the Tigers men's team still managed to place 22nd nationally, beating other larger division 1 schools.
When you look at just the division 2 schools who competed at Nationals, Grace finished 3rd overall.
Kent Herring (Evart, MI) led scoring for the Tigers with his 6th place finish in the decathlon. Herring scored 4,183 points in the event with new personal records in the 100m dash (11.96s), high jump (1.57m), and pole vault (2.94m). He also had really strong results in long jump (5.84m), the 400m (56.53s), and finished third overall in the 1500m run (4:49.92). Considering temperatures on the first day of competition soared to 90 degrees with high humidity and then, on day 2, strong storms rolled through resulting in a delay half way through his events, Herring demonstrated grit and determination in the face of adversity all week.
Angel Becerra (Allendale, MI) on his final throw ever as a Tiger, having graduated last week with his degree, smashed his previous personal best in discus and moved up to second all-time in school history for the event. After a sector foul on his first throw, Becerra stepped back into the ring with back-to-back big tosses, with his last one landing at 28.05m and setting a new personal record. Becerra is a beloved teammate and classmate for Grace Christian and his attitude and work ethic all season long resulted in a well-deserved ending to his Tiger career.
Aidan Gansert (Fort Wayne, IN) placed 21st and 20th in the nation, respectively in men's javelin and shot put. With a best toss of 35.63m in javelin and 10.71m in shot put, Gansert capped off an amazing freshman season at Grace. He and his coaches know there is more in the tank and are excited to see what next year brings after a year of collegiate competition under his belt.
Alyssa Gennety (Jackson, MI) was the lone representative of the women's team this year; however, she still turned in a solid 5k performance, finishing in 21:41 and 18th nationally. Although it's not the result she was looking for, she left the meet hungry for improvement and looking forward to the cross country season next fall to improve upon the lessons she has learned.
With the conclusion of the Outdoor T&F Championships, the 2023-2024 seasons of competition have finally come to an end for the track & field and cross country teams. It has been an incredible and record-breaking year for the programs, with the women's cross country team placing 2nd at Nationals back in November, 4 new school records during indoor track & field, and 5 new school records during the outdoor track & field season. The foundation is being built strong for the young program as the Tigers seek to add depth with new recruits for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
