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Men's Track and Field Monday, April 29, 2024 NWC Athletic Communications

Raiders Shine Through the Storms at Drake Relays

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake Relays holds appearances by the some of the top high school athletes in the state of Iowa, some of the best college athletes in the nation, and even some appearances by world champions in various disciplines in the sport of track and field. This year they saw the Raiders finish in the top 10 in multiple events, as they competed across the 3 day event. Tornadoes, and multiple severe weather delays would cause timing to pushed back, but the meet would still commence.

The first race for the men was the 4x100m relay, Friday morning. The quad of runners, Braden Kalvelage, Grant Palmer, Braden Jahn, and Ashton Sandbulte, would run 41.55 in the preliminary rounds to get 8^th, securing their spot in the finals. In the finals, as the men were minutes away from starting the race, there would be an announcement that due to severe weather, the meet was going to be paused. A very uncertain 2 and a half hours later, the men would be back out on the track, joined by Vance Hayenga-Johnson as the starter, and run 41.36, good enough for 3^rd place overall, the highest finish NWC has had at Drake.

The weather delay Saturday night was the second time the severe weather was brought over Des Moines. Friday night, the men's 4x200m relay ultimately getting 6^th place overall, would just narrowly get their race off before the tornado sirens would begin to sound. The team of Carter Van Donge, Sandbulte, Aziah Ashley, and Hayenga-Johnson and the rest of the raiders would shelter in the hallways and bathrooms of the basketball arena as two tornados touched down 10 miles to the east of the Drake stadium for a few hours. Thanks to God's grace there was no one hurt among the travel party and the weather threat diminished as time went on.

Between the 4x100m relay Friday morning, and the 4x200m relay Friday evening, was the 4x400m relay. Starting the event would be Jahn, back from the 4x1 that morning. Handing off to fellow 400m specialist, Ashley, the team would be in the mix of the others in their heat. Third leg would belong to AJ Bomgaars, as he would run his fastest ever 400m split, on his way to the anchor Trey Englemann. Englemann brought the team home in a season best time of 3:18.93, just a second away from the provisional mark of 3:17.7.

The rain and winds Friday night brought a very warm and cloudless morning for the beginning of the Saturday's events. The men's Distance Medley Relay would begin competition for the meet. The DMR distances run were the 1200 by Trey Engelmann, to Palmer commanding an incredible 400. He handed off to distance specialist Payton Van Sickle to run the 800, finishing off with a pass to Ben VanDeBerg to run a 1600. The men would get 9^th overall in a time of 10:40.

The field events on Saturday went off without a hitch. Starting the men's long jump, Simphiwe Mashaba and Justin Gleason in the first flight would finish 13^th and 20^th respectively. Mashaba's farthest jump of the day was 6.94m and Gleason's out to 6.85m after scratching his first two jumps. Kalvelage, jumping in the second flight led the Raiders in the long jump, finishing in 5^th place, from his third jump of 7.39m or 24' 3". The other field event of the day was Drew Geetings in the javelin throw. Throwing from a very shortened approach, Geetings would hit a good distance of 46.24m, on his way to finish 18^th overall.

Raider Results
4x100m Relay Prelims

Kalvelage, Palmer, Jahn, Sandbulte 41.55 - 8^th

4x100m Relay Finals

Hayenga-Johnson, Palmer, Jahn, Sandbulte 41.36 – 3^rd NAIA PROVISIONAL MARK

4x200m Relay

Van Donge, Sandbulte, Ashley, Hayenga-Johnson 1:27.80 – 6^th

Distance Medley Relay

Engelman, Palmer, Van Sickle, VanDeBerg 10:40.90 – 9^th

Long Jump

Braden Kalvelage 7.39m – 5^th NAIA AUTO MARK
Simphiwe Mashaba 6.94m – 13^th
Justin Gleason 6.85m – 20^th

Javelin

Drew Geetings 46.24m – 18^th

NAIA National Standings (4/28/2024)
Braden Kalvelage LJ 7.42m – 5^th

Simphiwe Mashaba LJ 7.41m – 6^th

Justin Gleason LJ 7.31m – 8^th

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

Ben Thelander Javelin 57.02 – 19^th

Up Next: The Northwestern College Red Raiders will be host to the Great Plains Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Split over two days, the first day will get underway Friday afternoon into the evening, with the reminder of the meet being contested Saturday afternoon.

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

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Players Mentioned

Aziah Ashley: Sprints; 6' 0"; Sophomore

AJ Bomgaars: Hurdles; 6' 5"; Sophomore

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

Drew Geetings: High Jump; 6' 4"; Sophomore

Braden Jahn: Sprints; 5' 10"; Senior

Braden Kalvelage: Jumps; 6' 0"; Sophomore

Grant Palmer: Sprints; 6' 2"; Junior

Ashton Sandbulte: Sprints; 5' 11"; Freshman

Ben Thelander: High Jump/Hurdles; Senior

Ben VanDeBerg: Distance; 6' 1"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Aziah Ashley
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: Sprints

AJ Bomgaars
: 6' 5"; Sophomore
: Hurdles

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

Drew Geetings
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: High Jump

Braden Jahn
: 5' 10"; Senior
: Sprints

Braden Kalvelage
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: Jumps

Grant Palmer
: 6' 2"; Junior
: Sprints

Ashton Sandbulte
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: Sprints

Ben Thelander
: Senior
: High Jump/Hurdles

Ben VanDeBerg
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: Distance