Men's Track and Field Monday, April 22, 2024 NWC Athletic Communications

Raider Men Win Four Events and Record 25 Top-Eight Finishes

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – It was time for the yearly Red Raider home meet and although the temps were chilly on Friday and Saturday, and winds were raging, the Raiders would put together some impressive performances. The Raiders would win 4 events at the home meet: Braden Jahn in the 400m dash, Coltin Vargas in the high jump, Justin Gleason in the long jump, and Elijah Weaver in the Decathlon. Overall the men had 25 finishes in the top-8, and the men and women combined for 44 PRs.

Jumps/Multis/Throws:
Weaver would start the two day meet with one of his overall best decathlon performances. He would win the two day, 10-event competition with a score of 5,237 points. Also on Friday, Lane Johnson would contest the pole vault. He would be moving on new poles and would end the competition in 11^th at 3.83m. Also on Friday would be the hammer throw, where Jacob Folkert would PR at 32.86m. On the second day of competition, the long jump would be the first event contested. Gleason would win the competition jumping to the NAIA auto standard again in 7.28m. Braden Kalvelage would get second with a jump of 7.13m. Right after, in the triple jump, Gleason would get 3^rd with a jump of 13.32m. Liam Raymon would get 5^th with a jump of 12.58, Reese Van Zee 7^th in a distance of 12.14, and Isaiah Hollinger 8^th in a jump of 11.66m. Finishing off the throws, Folkerts would lead the men through the shot put and the discus, with a discus PR of 37.13m. Inside at the high jump, Coltin Vargas would win the competition with a jump of 1.82m, and Donovan Elmore wouldn't be far behind at 3^rd with a jump of 1.77m.

Sprints/Hurdles/Relays:
Despite the cold temps, the sprint times would still be fast. Vance Hayenga-Johnson would lead the Raiders through not just the prelims but the finals of the 100m dash. He would finish 5^th in prelims at 10.99 seconds, and would get 4^th in the finals in a new PR fo 10.97. He would be joined by Carter Van Donge who would get 7^th in finals with a time of 11.09. in the 200, Braden Jahn would get 2^nd in a time of 22.06, impressive since he would do that only a couple hours after running 49.29 and winning the 400m dash. Hayenga-Johnson would join Jahn in the top of the 200m marks, with a new PR fo 22.07 on his way to get 3^rd place. Ashton Sandbulte would not be far behind in 4^th with a PR of 22.18, followed by Van Donge in 6^th in a PR of 22.43. the 110hurdles prelims had AJ Bomgaars run the exact same he did last week, ranked 5^th at 16.12. He finished finals in a new PR of 15.60 reaching 3^rd place. Bomgaars would come back in the 400 hurdles and climb to 5^th place in a time of 57.44. The final relay of the day, the 4x400m relay, would get 7^th place overall, made up of Cale Sudbeck, Grant Palmer, Reese Van Zee, and Gunner Vargas.

Distance:
The distance squad wouldn't hold back either. Trey Engelmann would come in 7^th, finishing in a sub-2:00 800. In the longest distance race of the day, the 5000m run, distance specialist Ben VanDeBerg would get second in the event, just off of his PR. Braeden Brough would finish in 6^th, in a sprint finish, barely beating Brayden Dirks in 7^th, by half a second. Brough would finish in 16:57.17, and Dirks in 16:57.75. Although he was outside of the top 8, Sam Harrison would get a PR in the 5000m run of 17:22.88. The distance relay, the 4x800m relay, would see a huge 3^rd place finish. That squad would be made up of Payton Van Sickle, Carson Engbers, Tommy Tracy, and Englemann.

Raider Top-8 (Bold indicates PR):
100m Prelims

Vance Hayenga Johnson 10.99 – 5^th
Carter Van Donge 11.17 – 7^th

100m Dash Finals

Vance Hayenga-Johnson 10.97 – 4^th
Carter Van Donge 11.09 – 7^th

200m Dash

Braden Jahn 22.06 – 2^nd
Vance Hayenga-Johnson 22.07 – 3^rd
Ashton Sandbulte 22.18 – 4^th
Carter Van Donge 22.43 – 6^th

400m Dash

Braden Jahn 49.29 – 1^st

800m Run

Trey Engelmann 1:59.78 – 7^th

5000m Run

Ben VanDeBerg 15:41.97 – 2^nd
Braeden Brough 16:57.17 – 6^th
Brayden Dirks 16:57.75 – 7^th

110 Hurdles Prelims

AJ Bomgaars 16.12 – 5^th

110 Hurdles Finals

AJ Bomgaars 15.60 – 3^rd

400m Hurdles

AJ Bomgaars 57.44 – 5^th

4x400m Relay

Sudbeck, Palmer, Van Zee, Vargas 3:36.09 – 7^th

4x800m Relay

Van Sickle, Engbers, Tracy, Engelmann 8:36.92 – 3^rd

High Jump

Coltin Vargas 1.82m – 1^st
Donovan Elmore 1.77m – 3^rd

Long Jump

Justin Gleason 7.28m – 1^st NAIA AUTO MARK
Braden Kalvelage 7.13m – 2^nd

Triple Jump

Justin Gleason 13.32m – 3^rd
Liam Raymon 12.58m – 5^th
Reese Van Zee 12.14m – 7^th
Isaiah Hollinger 11.66m – 8^th

Decathlon

Elijah Weaver 5237 Points – 1^st
Ben Thelander 2304 Points – 4^th

NAIA National Standings (4/21/2024)
Braden Kalvelage LJ 7.42m – 4^th

Simphiwe Mashaba LJ 7.41m – 5^th

Justin Gleason LJ 7.31m – 6^th

4x100m Relay – Kalvelage, Palmer, Jahn, Sandbulte – 40.91 – 14^th

Ben Thelander Javelin 57.02 – 17^th

Up Next: The men's and women's track and field teams will have a busy week. The team will head to Mount Marty University in Yankton, South Dakota, for the last chance meet. Then on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the team will head to Drake Relays with those qualifiers.

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

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Players Mentioned

AJ Bomgaars: Hurdles; 6' 5"; Sophomore

Brayden Dirks: Distance; 6' 1"; Sophomore

Donovan Elmore: High Jump; 6' 3"; Sophomore

Trey Engelmann: Mid-Distance; 6' 1"; Junior

Braden Jahn: Sprints; 5' 10"; Senior

Braden Kalvelage: Jumps; 6' 0"; Sophomore

Grant Palmer: Sprints; 6' 2"; Junior

Liam Raymon: Jumps; 6' 0"; Sophomore

Ashton Sandbulte: Sprints; 5' 11"; Freshman

Ben Thelander: High Jump/Hurdles; Senior

Players Mentioned

AJ Bomgaars
: 6' 5"; Sophomore
: Hurdles

Brayden Dirks
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: Distance

Donovan Elmore
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: High Jump

Trey Engelmann
: 6' 1"; Junior
: Mid-Distance

Braden Jahn
: 5' 10"; Senior
: Sprints

Braden Kalvelage
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: Jumps

Grant Palmer
: 6' 2"; Junior
: Sprints

Liam Raymon
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: Jumps

Ashton Sandbulte
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: Sprints

Ben Thelander
: Senior
: High Jump/Hurdles