Men's Track and Field Sunday, February 19, 2023 NWC Athletic Communications

Men’s 4x400m Relay Wins GPAC Title; First time Since 2001

Kalvelage Wins LJ, Hits Provisional and Ties School Record 200m

SEWARD, Neb. – Wow. The Raiders never took the foot off the gas pedal as soon as the meet started at the 2023 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Championships, hosted by Concordia (Neb.).

T&F | Epic finish for the men's 4x400m relay as they hold off the rest of the pack and wrap up the night as the relay's GPAC Champions!#RaidersStandOut @NWCTRACK pic.twitter.com/9cPjOBXWz9
— NWC Red Raiders (@nwcraiders) February 19, 2023

Friday started with the Heptathlon, featuring Ben Thelander and Elijah Weaver. It would start on Friday with the 60m dash that would see both Thelander and Weaver blazing to PRs in the race, Thelander down .06 to 7.31 and Weaver down .01 to 7.59. 30 minutes later would begin the long jump where Thelander would better his long jump mark from a few weeks ago by almost half a meter! The duo of Raiders would place 3^rd and 4^th in the event with Thelander narrowly edging out Weaver by .08m, less than 3 inches, in a hard fought jump off. Continuing his massive streak, Thelander would throw the shot in the 3^rd event 11.12m or 36' 5.75" which is only .03m off of his all time PR. Weaver would follow and huck the 16lb shot put to another PR for the day, out to 9.55m or 31' 4". Following the shot put, the final event of day 1 would be the high jump, where Weaver would unleash and take 1^st place amongst the athletes there. He would jump 1.95m, or 6'4.75", tying his lifetime PR. Thelander would finish the high jump just behind in 3^rd place at 1.86m or 6'1.25".

Day 2 for the heptathletes proves who has the resiliency to push their physical capabilities to the max. It started with the 60m hurdles. Thelander and Weaver, in lanes directly next to each other, would push each other to MASSIVE PRs in the sprint hurdle race. Thelander would barely edge out Weaver, finishing in 8.87 with weaver in 8.9. Pole Vault being the next event had Weaver, with minimal training in the event, would tie his PR in the event at 2.95m or 9'8". Thelander, feeling the fatigue begin to set in, would grind his way to a lifetime PR at 3.65m, 11'11.75". The final battle, the 1000m run, is the final test for the brutal 2 Day event. Thelander and Weaver would set out together in the pack of runners, pushing each other as iron sharpens iron. Weaver would little by little pull away, a couple feet every lap, pulling Thelander along, with the rest of the Red Raiders surrounding the track cheering them on. The final sprint finish for the duo would see both competitors finish in PR times. Weaver would finish the race in 3:01.40 with Thelander finishing in 3:03.65.

The final point totals for the two Raiders had Thelander in 3^rd place with an all time PR of 4606 and Weaver in 5^th, also in an all time PR of 4320. These performances, as of the writing of this, would put Weaver in 28^th place in the NAIA, and Thelander would see himself move up to 17^th place.

After the heptathlon would be completed the speed events would begin with the horizontal jumps and sprints. Freshman Liam Raymon would compete in the triple jump with his second best performance of his collegiate career. Following his lead, Braden Kalvelage went on to leap his way to a Great Plains Athletic Conference Championship Title. Kalvelage would tie his PR of 7.28m or 23' 10.75". This win would make Kalvelage perfect across the regular season long jump competition, winning every, single, one. Kalvelage would not finish there. Later in the 200m, he would continue his dominance by tying the 200m indoor school record at 22.29, placing 4^th over all. This mark would also be good enough for the NAIA provisional mark. In the same heat, Senior and Sprints Captain Braden Jahn would be pulled to a new Person Record of 22.53 to finish 8^th. In the first heat of the 200, Senior Cody Post would also hit a Person record, running all by himself out to 22.42 seconds. Unfortunately, a well placed judge, with a watchful eye, would ultimately see Post running on the line and find that worthy of a DQ in the event.

The 400m dash, the final sprint event, would see some definite action from the Raiders. Tanner Schouten and Senior Mitch Oostra, would finish 7^th and 12^th overall from the first heat respectively. Getting through the first 200m, they would get cut off by a competitor, causing them to stumble in their strides and get jostled around, but they persevered and continued to fight. Schouten, in a very bold move, would bob and weave his way through the competitors on the backstretch, going all the way out to lane 3 and finally regaining his place in first around the final turn. Oostra would follow suit and fight his way out of being boxed in to sit behind Schouten. Schouten would go on to win the heat by over 2 FULL SECONDS and in a PR time of 50.83 seconds. Just Prior to the event, AJ Bomgaars would finish his 60m Hurdle Race in 9.08 seconds for a season best, and all time Personal Record.

Distances would begin to go up, but performances would not go down. The 600m run had Trey Engelmann finishing in 5^th place, leading the pack throughout the entire race. Hard fought battle he never got passed, and pushed his paces to a 1:23.93 time. This was after running the 4x800m to start the meet, not an easy double. Fellow runners on that 4x800m relay were Senior distance captain Joseph Kunert, Freshman Tommy Tracy and Senior Daniel Nordquist. These four men would finish eighth-place in the race. Hard fought as well, with Kunert getting pushed and nearly falling only 100m into his starting leg. Fighting back hard, he would hand off to Tracy who thankfully would not encounter any unfortunate incidences to Nordquist and finally Kunert. The longest distance race contended that day, the 5000m run had Ben VanDeBerg barely missing out on a scoring place. He would run a PR race in 16:17.24 and finish in 10^th place.

The field events would conclude with Freshman Bryan Zylstra finishing in 8^th place in the men's Shot Put, the first time a Raider has accomplished the feat since 2017. Zylstra would be sitting in 6^th place after only his first throw of 14.33m, and would better it on his second throw to 14.45m or 47'5". His third, and what would have arguably been his best throw, was unfortunately a foul, and amongst the competitors would be moved down to 8^th place.

The final, and loudest event at the GPAC Conference Championship was the 4x400m Relay. The Raiders would put on the line Braden Jahn, Schouten, Oostra, and Cody Post, and would the quad of runners out finish 1^st in a time of 3:22.02. The relay started with Jahn, fresh off a 200m PR, in the blocks for the first leg. Going out incredibly well, he got stuck behind 3 other runners to being the 3^rd 100m section of the race. Making a VERY bold move of "High Risk High Reward" as he put it, Jahn would speed up on the back stretch to pass all the other competitors and put the team in first place. Simultaneously, at the exchange zone, Schouten waited in the "3^rd" position until, seeing Jahn make a move, his eyes grew wide and he shoved himself to the front of the exchanges. Smooth exchange from Jahn to Schouten would see the Raiders remain in 1^st place throughout the remainder of the event. Schouten, from his 400m PR a few hours before, never stopped going. Dealing with a blister on the inside of his foot, he would lead the pack of sprinters and force everyone else to keep up with his pace. After handing off to Oostra, and subsequently limping off the track, Oostra would follow in the lead of his two fellow runners and leave everything he had out there. Feeling his foot and ankle becoming tender throughout the run, he wouldn't hold back on his way to fight the way he did in the open 400m. Refusing to be boxed in, he positioned himself incredibly well, maintaining 1^st place set by Jahn and Schouten, before the handoff to Post. The final 400m leg of the race lead to cheers that echoed deafeningly off of the facility walls. Post, eager to redeem himself from his 200m would drive home the Raiders' finish. The final 100m saw all competitors feeling the fatigue pushing their limits, but in a lean by Post, ultimately causing him to fall, would put the Red Raiders in 1^st place by .04 seconds, a true photo finish.

RAIDER ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMERS (TOP-8 FINISHERS):

200m
- Braden Kalvelage 22.29 – 4^th
- Braden Jahn 22.53 – 8^th
400m
- Tanner Schouten 50.83 – 7^th
600m
- Trey Engelmann 1:23.93 – 5^th
4x400m Relay
- Braden Jahn, Tanner Schouten, Mitchell Oostra, Cody Post 3:22.02 – 1^st
4x800m Relay
- Joseph Kunert, Tommy Tracy, Daniel Norquist, Trey Engelmann 8:43.69 – 8^th
Long Jump
- Braden Kalvelage 7.28m – 1^st
Shot Put
- Bryan Zylstra 14.45m – 8^th
Heptathlon
- Ben Thelander 4606 – 3^rd
- Elijah Weaver 4320 – 5^th

RAIDER CURRENT NAIA RANKINGS:

Braden Kalvelage
- 200m Dash: 22.29 – 49^th
- Long Jump: 7.28m – 6^th
4x400m Relay
- 3:22.02 – 16^th
Ben Thelander
- Heptathlon: 4630 – 17^th
Elijah Weaver
- Heptathlon: 4344 – 28^th

Up Next: The Men's and Women's track and field teams will take a week off from competition. The NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships will take place on March 2-4, in Brookings, S.D. The rest of the team will be gearing up for outdoor season, beginning March 25^th in Storm Lake, Iowa, weather permitting.

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

Daniel Nordquist: Distance; Senior

Mitch Oostra: Mid-Distance; Senior

Cody Post: Sprints; Senior

Ben Thelander: High Jump/Hurdles; Junior

AJ Bomgaars: Hurdles; Freshman

Braden Kalvelage: Jumps; Sophomore

Liam Raymon: Jumps; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Trey Engelmann
: Sophomore
: Distance

Braden Jahn
: Senior
: Sprints

Joseph Kunert
: Senior
: Distance

Daniel Nordquist
: Senior
: Distance

Mitch Oostra
: Senior
: Mid-Distance

Cody Post
: Senior
: Sprints

Ben Thelander
: Junior
: High Jump/Hurdles

AJ Bomgaars
: Freshman
: Hurdles

Braden Kalvelage
: Sophomore
: Jumps

Liam Raymon
: Freshman
: Jumps