Men's Track and Field Sunday, February 12, 2023 NWC Athletic Communications

Men’s 4x400m relay hits NAIA Provisional Mark, first time since 2015

Jahn Breaks School Record in 200m, Kalvelage Wins Long Jump

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Set backs never stop the Raiders from succeeding. Incurring bus troubles only half an hour outside of Orange City, the NWC track and field team never lost faith in God providing and protecting. "I was typing away on my computer, finishing some work on the way up to the meet with my head down, and I just hear a crash and look up to see glass flying all over the driver and the other front passengers!" said head coach Scott Bahrke. "In talking with the driver and others on the bus, it turns out there were around 20 turkeys flocking in the middle, and on the side of the road. As the bus drove past, one of them flew into the bottom corner of the windshield and shattered it. We were thankful no one was hurt, we were able to change busses, and still arrive on time and have a successful meet."

While there were no travel delays on the way there, Friday, day one of the two day meet was no less eventful. Ben VanDeBerg led the men through the 5000m run with a hot run and a 8 second PR, now down to 16:18.45. Fellow freshman distance runner Braden Brough would join VanDeBerg in the PR category while hitting an 18 second PR in the 5k, now at 17:45.27. The 3k, also on Friday, proved no less exciting. Senior David Adair would make his debut race in the event, but would fall to his teammate Brayden Dirks who would add another PR to the list. His 9 second PR over the 3000m race would be an unbelievable nearly 30 second drop from his first race of that distance in January.

Day 2 of the meet started off with a bang. First the turkeys hit the window of the bus, but then the 60m dash was the first contested event for the men. The qualifying had 4 Raiders hit PR marks. Tyreece Wynne, Ashton Sandbulte, Grant Palmer, and Karson Gieseke would all run PRs in the event, with Wynne and Sandbulte making the 2^nd round of races, out of 3, for the first time at the SDSU hosted NCAA meet. The impressive performances continued on with the sprints crew throughout the meet. The 200m would see every athlete that finished, run a PR time. Braden Jahn would ultimately lead the Raiders in a school record performance of 22.27. The previous school record was set last year by senior Cody Post who was dealing with a foot injury and unable to defend his record, but will back next week for the conference championship. Sandbulte would drop his time by a blazing half a second from his previous time and Grant Palmer and Aziah Ashley would both PR by nearly the same amount as Sandbulte. Preston Pfaffle would run a personal all conditions PR, as would Gieseke.

In the 400m dash, Senior Mitch Oostra would run a season best of 50.98, and Reese Van Zee would add his name to the ever growing list of PRs. Van Zees 53.97 would be an indoor PR, down from 54.06 at the same facility 3 weeks ago. Following the 400m dash, the 600m run would have Trey Engelmann run another PR, but just barely off of the provisional mark. Jacob Kalkwarf in his final race of the indoor season would also add a PR in the 600m run, .5 seconds faster than the last time he was at the SDSU facility.

Adding distance to the races, Tommy Tracy ran a PR 1000m in 2:44.09, down 2 full seconds from his previous best. VanDeBerg, back for a second day of racing off of his 5000m PR on Friday, would yet again PR in the Mile. 2 seconds would be dropped as he led the Raiders over the 1600m distance in 4:41.63. Senior and distance captain Joseph Kunert would add a second meet to his indoor schedule with a run in the mile, still banged up, but running and supporting his team.

The jump portion of the meet did not disappoint. Ben Thelander and Elijah Weaver both competed in the high jump and both would jump just off of personal PRs. Both men would clear 1.91m or 6'3.25", only 1" below their PRs. Weaver would get 6^th place and Thelander would get 12^th, decided by the number of misses at each bar. In the long jump, contested at the same time as the 60m dashes, Braden Kalvelage jumped 7.05m or 23'1.75", impressive since he has been dealing with hip flexor tweaks and soreness. That 7.05m jump was good enough for a 1^st place finish among the NCAA competition.

The men's 4x400m relay would prove the perfect cap to the end of the day. Braden Jahn, Tanner Schouten, Mitch Oostra, and Trey Engelmann would hit the provisional mark in the event, the first time for a team of Raiders since the indoor conference meet in 2015. The provisional mark of 3:19.31 required each member to run a 49.86 split average, of which was achieved through various incredibly good performances. Jahn, fresh off of a 200m PR continue to impress with an opening run of 49.5 to start the relay, and handed off to Schouten. Schouten, who ended up false starting his 200m dash and getting disqualified in it, would make up for it and ultimately be the key to the Raiders' success. After a shaky handoff from Jahn, Schouten, by one coach's watch would go 47.99, and another would have 48.5. After an incredible leg, it was time for final two members of the relay to hold onto the lead the first two made. Oostra would run a 50.0 400m split, fighting off other opponents and refusing to get boxed in on his way to give Engelmann the baton. Engelmann, would anchor the race with his fastest split of the indoor season with 50.7.

Raider Top-10:

600m
- Trey Engelmann 1:22.12 – 7th
4x400m Relay
- A: Braden Jahn, Tanner Schouten, Mitch Oostra, Trey Engelmann 3:18.92 – 4^th
High Jump
- Elijah Weaver 1.91m – 6^th
Long Jump
- Braden Kalvelage 7.05m – 1^st

Up Next: The Men's and Women's track and field teams will compete at the Great Plains Athletic Conference Championship. This will take place in Seward, Nebraska. The women's pentathlon and day one of the men's heptathlon will start on Friday, with everything else being held on Saturday.

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

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Players Mentioned

Trey Engelmann: Distance; Sophomore

Braden Jahn: Sprints; Senior

Joseph Kunert: Distance; Senior

Mitch Oostra: Mid-Distance; Senior

Grant Palmer: Sprints; Sophomore

Preston Pfaffle: Sprints; Junior

Cody Post: Sprints; Senior

Ben Thelander: High Jump/Hurdles; Junior

Aziah Ashley: Mid-Distance; Freshman

Brayden Dirks: Distance; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Trey Engelmann
: Sophomore
: Distance

Braden Jahn
: Senior
: Sprints

Joseph Kunert
: Senior
: Distance

Mitch Oostra
: Senior
: Mid-Distance

Grant Palmer
: Sophomore
: Sprints

Preston Pfaffle
: Junior
: Sprints

Cody Post
: Senior
: Sprints

Ben Thelander
: Junior
: High Jump/Hurdles

Aziah Ashley
: Freshman
: Mid-Distance

Brayden Dirks
: Freshman
: Distance