Drake University Athletic Communications

Men's Track and Field Sunday, April 30, 2023 NWC Athletic Communications

Raider Men Record Three Top-5 Finishes at Drake Relays

DES MOINES, Iowa – The 113^th Drake Relays would see the Raiders yet again arrive to run at the Blue Oval this outdoor season. The two-day meet would have the men running the 4x100m prelims as well as the 4x400m prelims on Friday, with men's long jump and men's javelin on Saturday, with the potential relay finals on Saturday as well.

Early on the crisp Friday morning, the men work their way to the start line for the 4x100m relay, scheduled to start at 9:32 AM. Braden Kalvelage would start in the blocks as the sun would slowly work its way overhead. Running a solid first leg, there would be just the slightlest miscalculation going into his handoff to Cody Post leading to just a hair of hesitation. Post, not letting it phase him, would stay calm through it and after receiving the baton, rip through the second leg of the race to put the team into 2^nd place. Reaching Braden Jahn on the third leg, Post would have a massive stretch on his reach to get the baton to Jahn, successfully completeing the handoff just before taking a tumble and hitting the track. Jahn would maintain the Raiders position in 2^nd on the way to Ashton Sandbulte, the anchor for the Raiders. A slight reach from Jahn to Sandbulte to complete the pass, as Jahn would manage to keep his feet, would send Sandbulte into a decided 2^nd place in the heat, finishing in 41.69. That time would place them 7^thoverall as they secured their spot into the finals on Saturday.

The guys would have some downtime as they awaited the second race of the day, the 4x400m relay. Jahn would be back again, this time in the starting blocks, running one of the best splits of his life as he would hand off to Post, also back for this race. Post would cruise well through his first 100m, and as the athletes would begin to start cutting down into lane one, he would get cut off and have to slow his pace by just the smallest of percentages. Pushing hard going into his final 100m he would gain back the ground he lost and put the Raiders in the middle of the pack to also finish in the fastest split of his life. Little did they know this would be a sticky situation. Post now handing off to senior Mitch Oostra would put them right in the mess of people at the exchange zone. A competitor, on their exchange, mere feet before the Raiders, would continue on his path and put himself directly into the path of Oostra, forcing him to put a forearm out as he worked his way around that athlete. A veteran of the event Oostra kept on pushing without letting it phase him. As he worked his way around the track he would maintain the distance formed from the errant competitor, also leading to one of the best splits of his life. Finally, the anchor leg would host mid-distance specialist Trey Engelmann. Engelmann would not have the excitement that the first few legs would have, as he ran his way to the team's season best. The 4x400m relay would finish in 3:18.00, 13^th in the competition, and narrowly missing the NAIA Provisional Standard of 3:17.70.

Saturday, day two, would host the same excitement of day one. It would begin in the morning with Braden Kalelage, back from the qualifying 4x100m relay on the runway for the long jump competition. Kavleage started the competition strong with a jump of 7.31m or 23' 11.75", automatically qualifying him for the final round. He would get a little short on his second jump, only gaining 6.97m before coming back up to 7.04m on his 3^rd attempt. With finals underway, Kalvelage would be just over the foul mark and stratch his 4^th attempt. Keeping his cool, his 5^th attempt would be back up to a 7.22m jump, before unfortunately scratching his 6^th jump as well. His first jump of 7.31m would gain him 3^rd place in the long jump competition.

Second on the agenda for the Raiders would be junior decathlete Ben Thelander up to throw the javelin. On his very first throw, Thelander would his a lifetime PR throw of 52.62m, or 172' 8". That throw will place him 5^th in the Great Plains Athletic Conference going into the conference championship meet this weekend. Still from a short five-step approach, Thelander would throw a 50.03m distance on his 2^nd attempt, and continue the distances with a 51.37m throw on his 3^rd and final toss. His first throw of 51.62m would place him 5^th in the javelin competition.

The final competition at the 2023 Drake Relays for the Raiders was the men's 4x100m relay. Starting this time would be Grant Palmer, with a smooth handoff to Post, back from both relays the day before. A solid leg to Jahn again, also back from both relays the day prior. Jahn would run up on Sandbulte in the final exchange by just a little as Sandbulte would push the team into a 4^th place finish in the finals. The men's final time was 41.69.

Raider Results
4x100m Relay

Prelims:
- Braden Kalvelage, Cody Post, Braden Jahn, Ashton Sandbulte – 41.39
Finals:
- Grant Palmer, Cody Post, Braden Jahn, Ashton Sandbulte – 41.69, 4^th

4x400m Relay

Prelims:
- Braden Jahn, Cody Post, Mitch Oostra, Trey Engelmann 3:18.00 – 13^th

Long Jump

Braden Kalvelage 7.31m – 3^rd

Marks: 7.31 – 6.87 – 7.04 – Foul – 7.22 – Foul
Javelin

Ben Thelander 52.62m – 5^th

Marks: 52.62 – 50.03 – 51.37

Raider Rankings in the NAIA:
Braden Kavelage

Long Jump: 2^nd – 7.59m

4x100m Relay

11^th – 40.92

Up Next: NWC's Men's and Women's Track and Field teams will be competeing at The Great Plains Atheltic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championship will be held in Sioux Center, Iowa on Friday May 5^th and Saturday May 6^th.

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

Mitch Oostra: Mid-Distance; Senior

Grant Palmer: Sprints; Sophomore

Cody Post: Sprints; Senior

Ben Thelander: High Jump/Hurdles; Junior

Braden Kalvelage: Jumps; Sophomore

Ashton Sandbulte: Sprints; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Trey Engelmann
: Sophomore
: Distance

Braden Jahn
: Senior
: Sprints

Mitch Oostra
: Senior
: Mid-Distance

Grant Palmer
: Sophomore
: Sprints

Cody Post
: Senior
: Sprints

Ben Thelander
: Junior
: High Jump/Hurdles

Braden Kalvelage
: Sophomore
: Jumps

Ashton Sandbulte
: Freshman
: Sprints