By: NWC Athletic Communications
CRETE, Neb. – The Northwestern College men's track and field team took advantage of beautiful weather to wrap up the regular season at the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Championships in Crete, Neb. hosted by Doane University.
James Gilbert Jr. (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) brought home the first gold medal of the weekend with his first-place finish in the long jump on Friday afternoon. He's now won back-to-back gold medals in the long jump at the GPAC Outdoor Championships.
Lorenzo Jones (So., Orlando, Fla.) joins fellow Orlando native in taking home a gold medal as Jones wins the Triple Jump with a leap of 14.99m, topping second-place by 0.2m to secure first-place. It's the second time in as many weeks that the sophomore has hit the NAIA auto mark, coming off his record-breaking leap of 15.05m a week ago at the Drake Relays.
As a team, the Raiders took home a sixth-place team finish (74 points) along with 25 personal bests achieved at the 2022 GPAC Outdoor Championships.
ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMERS (TOP-8 PERFORMERS):
- James Gilbert Jr. (Long Jump, 7.03m) and Lorenzo Jones (Triple Jump, 14.99m) both took home first-place finishes and crowned GPAC champions in their respective events.
- Ben Thelander notched a third-place finish in the Javelin Throw with a toss of 51.41m.
- Bryce Paulsen hit the provisional mark with 6088 points in the decathlon for a third-place finish.
- Trey Engelmann took home fourth-place in the in the 800m with a time of 1:56.55.
- Levi Cross (10,000m run – 33:11.07), Isaiah Lee (800m – 1:56.88), and Gilbert (Triple Jump – 14.10m) marked fifth-place finishes in three different events.
- Thelander also earned All-Conference honors in the decathlon with a score of 5822 points for a fifth-place finish.
- Joseph Kunert, with his fresh haircut for the GPAC Championships, notched a sixth-place finish in the 3000m steeplechase (9:59.26).
- Ian Wiersma came in seventh in the 1500m (4:05.29) to wrap up his Red Raider career.
- Aaron Shepard (High Jump – 2.00m) and Kyler Vander Velde (200m – 22.12) each grabbed All-Conference honors with eighth-place finishes.
PROVISIONAL MARKS:
Up Next: For qualified athletes, the final stop for the 2022 season is the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Championships May 25-27 down in Golf Shores, Ala. at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium.
