Men's Track and Field Monday, April 24, 2023 NWC Athletic Communications

Kunert Wins the 3000m Steeplechase to End the Red Raider Open

Multiple Raiders hit PRs at home meet

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Cold, wind, sleet, snow, and even white out conditions would make some second guess whether it was really late April in Iowa. Others would buckle down, put on their warmest clothes, and do what needed to be done. Those others were the NWC Raiders. The track and field meet, spread over two consecutive days, was ran by NWC, and assisted through a multitude of volunteers that cannot be thanked enough for their effort and willingness to help in less than ideal conditions. But their willingness to help paid off.

The meet would be highlighted and capped with the last event the Raiders competed in, the 3000m steeplechase. Joseph Kunert and Daniel Norquist would line up with their eyes set on bettering their marks from the meet at UNK on April 1. Kunert, student teaching this semester and having to train on his in the evenings as his collegiate career starts to wrap up, would bring the team around the track as he was ultimately hunting down the NAIA provisional mark in the event. Kunert would lead after the first 100m, and only grow his advantage as the race continued. All by himself through the run with fellow Raders on the sidelines cheering him on, Kunert would run a personal best in the event of 9:32.63, incredibly close to the provisional mark of 9:32.00. Norquist would also feed off that energy as well and also PR in the event, dropping an astonishing 13 seconds off his previous time and finishing in 4^th place.

Impressive feats came from the other distance racers as well in the 5000m run, where Ben VanDeBerg would take 4^th overall with a PR run of 16:08.17. Hot on his tail the entire race would be Braeden Brough with a PR run of 17:36.17 to finish 7^th, and Brayden Dirks a second off of Brough to finish 8^th. In only his second 1500m run in college, Tommy Tracy would run a PR of 4:32.14 to finish 15^th, just outside the top 10. In the 800m run, Jacob Kalkwarf would battle hard to stay up with the pack, before falling off after 500m. A last burst of speed would bring him to passing two competitors and sqeak into 9^th place in 2:13.26. Trey Engelmann would lead his heat of the 800 through 600m, where fatigue would begin to set in, getting passed by not one but two different competitors would lead to a surge that would bring Engelmann back into a second place finish in 2:00.34.

The shorter sprints also proved successful as Mitch Oostra ran an outdoor season best of 51.80 to finish 2^nd in the competition, followed by Coltin Vargas in 8^th in 58.62. In the 200m Ashton Sandbulte and Aziah Ashley would finish in 5^th and 6^th overall, running a 22.90 and a 23.03 repectively. Earlier Sandbulte finished 3^rd in the 100m dash running 10.94 with fellow Raider Preston Pfaffle finishing in 7^th running 11.25. The hurdles were the final sprint event contested by the Raiders. AJ Bomgaars would finish in 2^nd place for the 110m hurdles, and later in the meet, Gunner Vargas and Reese Van Zee would sweep the 400m hurdle race to finish 1^st and 2^nd, respectively.

In the field events, the weather wouldn't hamper the spirits of the throwers as Bryan Zylstra took 4^th place in the shot put followed closely behind by William Minnick in 9^th. Zylstra would come back later in the discus and PR in his second place finish, throwing 45.51m or 149' 4". Not to be outdone, Minnick would also compete in a second event, the hammer, and throw just off his PR to finish in 4^th place with 46.41m or 152' 3". Following the mens' hammer throw, the javelin was next in line. Leading the men would be Josh Henkenius finishing in 3^rd place, with a PR throw of 44.47m or 145' 11". Also in the javelin competition was Heydon Strope who would hit a PR throw of 35.11m.

Continuing the field events would be the long jump where Will Bunn would win his first ever collegiate competition. He would out jump the other eight competetors with a jump of 6.43m or 21' 1.25". The triple jump would have two Raiders finish in the top five - Liam Raymon in 2^nd with a jump of 12.42m or 40' 9", and Noah Lopez in 4^th with a jump of 11.59m or 38' 0.25". The final jumping event would be the high jump. The Raiders would be led by Harland Groves clearing a season best height of 1.87m or 6' 1.5" on his first attempt. Drew Geetings would also jump a season best of 1.82m or 5'11.5" on his first attempt to finish 4^th, but Andrew Frick would not be as lucky as it would take him three attempts to clear his own season best mark of 1.82m in his 7^th place finish.

The final competition of the track and field meet would be the decathlon, competed by Elijah Weaver and Ben Thelander although Thelander would be competing below his usual intensity due to a recent muscle strain. These men would compete in 10 events over the course of 2 days, made even more grueling by the sub-par weather conditions. Starting in the 100, Weaver would run a lifetime PR in the event finishing in 11.97. Following the 100, he would place 2^nd in the long jump with a jump of 6.19m, but fall to 6^th in the shot put with a throw of 8.99m. 4^th event for Friday was the high jump where fatigue would begin to set in an dhe would reach a height of 1.84m or 6' .5" before running the 400m in 56.63. The chilly start to day two would have Weaver run his 110 hurdle race in 15.98, a mere .02 seconds off of his PR. Discus would be next where he would fall to 8^th place in his most foreign event with a throw of 20.32m or 66' 8". Next the decathlon would be moved inside for Pole Vault where Weaver would jump a full foot PR to 3.25m or 10'8" before heading back outside to the javelin where he would also throw a PR of 38.92m or 127' 8", moving him into 5^th place. The final event for the men would head them to the track for the 1500m run, where Weaver would run a 5:16.16 to cement his 5^th place finish.

Raider Top - 10
100m Dash

Ashton Sandbule 10.94 – 3^rd
Preston Pfaffle 11.25 – 7^th

200m Dash

Ashton Sandbule 22.90 – 5^th
Aziah Ashley 23.03 – 6^th

400m Dash

Mitch Oostra 51.80 – 2^nd
COltin Vargas 58.62 – 8^th

800m Run

Trey Engelmann 2:00.34 – 2^nd
Jacob Kalkwarf 2:13.26 – 9^th

5000m Run

Ben VanDeBerg 16:08.17 – 4^th
Braeden Brough 17:36.17 – 7^th
Brayden Dirks 17:37.11 – 8^th

3000m Steeplechase

Joseph Kunert 9:32.63 – 1^st
Daniel Nordquist 10:40.36 – 4^th

110 Hurdles

AJ Bomgaars 16.06 – 2^nd

400m Hurdles

Gunner Vargas 1:01.52 – 1^st
Reese Van Zee 1:03.05 – 2^nd

High Jump

Harland Groves 1.87m – 2^nd
Drew Geetings 1.82m – 4^th
Andrew Frick 1.82m – 7^th
Coltin Vargas 1.77m – 10^th

Long Jump

Will Bunn 6.43m – 1^st

Triple Jump

Liam Raymon 12.42m – 2^nd
Noah Lopez 11.59m – 9^th

Shot Put

Bryan Zylstra 14.19m – 4^th
Will Minnick 13.09m – 9^th

Discus

Bryan Zylstra 45.51 – 2^nd

Hammer

Will Minnick 46.42 – 4^th

Javelin

Josh Henkenius 44.47 – 3^rd

Decathlon

Elijah Weaver 5^th – 5233 points
Ben Thelander 9^th – 2565 points

Raider Rankings in the NAIA:
Braden Kavelage

Long Jump: 2nd

4x100m Relay

19^th

Up Next: The Men's and Women's track and field teams will have a couple competitions this week. Most of the team will be going to the Mount Marty Invite in Yankton, S.D. on Wednesday April 26, as the final regular season meet. Then, the Men's and Women's 4x400m Relay, Men's 4x100m Relay, and a couple individual event athetles will be competing at the prestigious Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday and Saturday, April 28^th and 29^th.

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

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Trey Engelmann: Distance; Sophomore

Harland Groves: Jumps; Sophomore

Josh Henkenius: Sprints; Junior

Joseph Kunert: Distance; Senior

William Minnick: Throws; Senior

Daniel Nordquist: Distance; Senior

Mitch Oostra: Mid-Distance; Senior

Preston Pfaffle: Sprints; Junior

Ben Thelander: High Jump/Hurdles; Junior

Gunner Vargas: Hurdles; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Trey Engelmann
: Sophomore
: Distance

Harland Groves
: Sophomore
: Jumps

Josh Henkenius
: Junior
: Sprints

Joseph Kunert
: Senior
: Distance

William Minnick
: Senior
: Throws

Daniel Nordquist
: Senior
: Distance

Mitch Oostra
: Senior
: Mid-Distance

Preston Pfaffle
: Junior
: Sprints

Ben Thelander
: Junior
: High Jump/Hurdles

Gunner Vargas
: Sophomore
: Hurdles