Thelander and Weaver Hit NAIA Provisional Mark in the Heptathlon

Thelander Wins Heptathlon and Weaver Achieves Runner Up

YANKTON, S.D. – A snow storm during the night of Friday the 27^th, caused a cancelation of the Mount Marty Invite, scheduled for Saturday the 28^th. All except for the two-day, seven-event Heptathlon. Ben Thelander, Elijah Weaver, and Drew Geetings arrived in Yankton Friday morning to contest the first day, before learning that the rest of the meet would not be finished. It was decided, however, that since the Raiders, joined by three other Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) athletes, were already at the meet, officials decided to finish the second day for those six athletes.

Day one has four total events to be contested, and starts with the 60m Dash. Thelander ran a PR race in 7.37s to achieve 2^nd in the event nad 755 points. Weaver and Geetings followed closely behind in 5^th and 6^th, running 7.60 and 7.65 respectively. Second event shortly after was the Long Jump. There, Weaver took a decided lead during the event with a PR jump of 6.42m, 21'.75", for 679 points.

Shortly after, it was Geetings' turn to lead the Raiders in an event. The third event was shot put, where he threw a PR of 11.20m, 36'9" for 558 points. Day 1 ended with the high jump, an event specality for Thelander and Weaver. Taking 1^st and 2^nd, both Weaver and Thelander jumped just below their all time bests. Weaver leaped 1.94m, 6'4.5", just 1 cm below his PR in the event for 749 points. Thelander, coming off an adductor injury, jumped 1.91m, 6'3.25", just 3 cm below his personal best and earning 723 points. Geetings would finish 4^th in the event with a jump of 1.76m, 5'9.25" for 539 points.

Day one point totals would end with Thelander in first with 2571 points, Weaver in third with 2529 points, and Geetings in 4^th with 2299 points.

After a long first day, the Raider men would start the second day of competition with the 60m High Hurdles. Weaver and Thelander being specalists in the event race to first and second place, respectively. Weaver would run a PR 60mH break the nine-second barrier and complete the event in 8.95s for 757 points. Narrowly behind was Thelander in second place finishing in 9.03 for 739 points. Very shortly after was the pole vault. Thelander would tie for first place in the event at 3.45m, 11'4", for 469 points. Then final, and sometimes least enjoyed event, is the 1000m run. Weaver would lead the Raiders with a run of 3:04.27 for 623 points to finish the 1k run in 2^nd place.

The Heptathlon would finish with Ben Thelander in 1^st place with 4323 points, Elijah Weaver in second with 4254 points, and Drew Geetings would finish in 5^th 3118 points.

Up Next: The NWC Track and Field team will compete at the Concordia Classic on Friday, February 3. Field events will start at 12:00 p.m., with running events starting at 3:00 p.m.

Don't forget to follow Northwestern College Athletics on Facebook @nwcraiders, Twitter @nwcraiders, and Instagram @nwcraiders! #RaidersStandOut

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Players Mentioned

Ben Thelander: High Jump/Hurdles; Junior

Drew Geetings: High Jump; Freshman

Elijah Weaver: High Jump/Hurdles; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ben Thelander
: Junior
: High Jump/Hurdles

Drew Geetings
: Freshman
: High Jump

Elijah Weaver
: Freshman
: High Jump/Hurdles