Men's Track and Field Tuesday, May 7, 2024 NWC Athletic Communications

Records Fall at GPAC Championships

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Along with the personal records broken and NAIA marks hit, school records, stadium records, and even GPAC meet records would fall as the Raiders took to the track for the Great Plains Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships. Braden Kalvelage would take 2 individual titles and 5 records in his performances on Saturday. He broke his own school record and the De Valois Stadium record with his first place finish in the long jump with his leap of 7.64m or 25' 0.75", placing him back at #1 in the nation. He would also be the first leg of the 4x100m relay as they would also win the title for the second year in a row, beating Dordt again by hundredths of a second. The relay's time of 40.58 would break the school record, the stadium record, and even the GPAC meet record, and places them 7^th in the nation. Kalvelage was joined by Grant Palmer, Braden Jahn, and Ashton Sandbulte.

Sprints/Hurdles/Relays:
Leading the Raiders through the 100m dash was Vance Hayenga-Johnson in a massive PR of 10.75 to place 7^th in the prelims. Placing outside of the top 8, but hitting PRs was Sandbulte and Palmer both in 10.93. Hayenga-Johnson would go onto the finals and run 10.77 retaining his 7^th place ranking. Coming over 200 meters, Kalvelage was back to claim 6^th place, running 21.93, joined by Sandbulte in 7^th in 21.96. Going into the 400m, Jahn, dropping a full second off of his PR would hit the coveted NAIA Provisonal Mark and a new lifetime best of 48.26 to finish 4^th place. Aziah Ashley, although he would finish 9^th, would also drop nearly a second off his best to finish at 49.40. AJ Bomgaars, dropping nearly half a second off his PR, would come though the preliminaires of the 110m Hurdles ranked 5^th in a time of 15.21, and come through the finals in 15.58 in 6^th place. He later came back to finish 4^th in the 400m hurdles, also his highest finish ever at the GPAC Championships, in a PR time of 55.46, less than a second away from the NAIA Provisional Mark. Through the 4x40m relay, the men's team would ge 2^nd place made up of Ashley, Jahn, Palmer and Trey Englemann.

Distance:
Engelmann, prior to his 2^nd place 4x400m relay finish would just barely miss his PR in the 800m run, coming across the line in 8^th place in a time of 1:57.17. Friday evening he would also anchor the 4x800m relay team that finished 6^th in a time of 8:16.13. While he would be outside of the top-8, Ben VanDeBerg, on Saturday would run an impressive PR in the 5k, ina time of 15:26.57. Impressive considering the night before, on Friday, he would run a PR in the 10k to place 7^th in a time of 32:35.59.

Jumps/Throws/Multis:
Joining Kalvelage on the podium for the long jump would be familiar faces of Justin Gleason and Simphiwe Mashaba. The Raiders, for the first time in school history, would go 1-2-3 in the long jump as Gleason would take 2^nd place with a jump of 7.25m, and Mashaba 3rtd in a jump of 7.17m. Gleason would come back later in the day to the triple jump and hit a HUGE PR of 14.54m to win the meet, and hit the NAIA Provisonal Mark, only .01 away from the NAIA Auto Mark. Into the high jump, Drew Geetings would also receive all-conference accolades with his 8^th place finish at 1.87m. The day prior, Geetings would be back up in the javelin rankings and finish in 5^th place with a throw of 52.12m a mere .2 from his PR. Taking 2^nd in the javelin, Ben Thelander would have a monster heave of 59.52m for a 2.5m PR from his previous best earlier this year. Just missing out on the finals of the shot put, Jacob Folkerts would heave the 16lb shot put to a new collegiate best of 13.49m, nearly half a meter better than his previous PR the week before. Competing in one of the most demanding events in track and field, Elijah Weaver finished 6^th place in the Decathlon, his highest finish ever in the event. He would rack up PRs in the 1500m run, the javelin, the pole vault, this discus, the 100m dash, and his overall point total.

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

Vance Hayenga Johnson 10.75 – 7^th

100m Dash Finals

Vance Hayenga-Johnson 10.77 – 7^th

200m Dash

Braden Kalvelage 21.93 – 6^th
Ashton Sandbulte 21.96 – 7^th

400m Dash

Braden Jahn 48.26 – 4^th NAIA PROVISIONAL MARK

800m Run

Trey Engelmann 1:57.17 – 8^th

10,000m Run

Ben VanDeBerg 32:35.59 – 7^th

110 Hurdles Prelims

AJ Bomgaars 15.21 – 5^th

110 Hurdles Finals

AJ Bomgaars 15.58 – 6^th

400m Hurdles

AJ Bomgaars 55.46 – 4^th

4x100m Relay

Kalvelage, Palmer, Jahn, Sandbulte 40.58 – 1^st NAIA AUTO MARK / SCHOOL RECORD / STADIUM RECORD / GPAC RECORD

4x400m Relay

Ashley, Jahn, Palmer, Engelmann 3:19.32 – 2^nd

4x800m Relay

Van Sickle, Engbers, Tracy, Engelmann 8:16.13 – 6^th (Season Best)

High Jump

Drew Geetings 1.87m – 8^th

Long Jump

Braden Kalvelage 7.64m – 1^st NAIA AUTO MARK / SCHOOL RECORD / STADIUM RECORD
Justin Gleason 7.25m – 2^nd NAIA AUTO MARK
Simphiwe Mashaba 7.17m – 3^rd NAIA PROVISIONAL MARK

Triple Jump

Justin Gleason 14.54m – 1^st NAIA PROVISIONAL MARK

Javelin

Ben Thelander 59.52m – 2^nd NAIA AUTO MARK
Drew Geetings 52.12m – 5^th

Decathlon

Elijah Weaver 5624 Points – 6^th

NAIA National Standings (5/6/2024)
Braden Kalvelage LJ 7.64m – 1^st

Simphiwe Mashaba LJ 7.41m – 7^th

Justin Gleason LJ 7.31m – 9^th

Justin Gleason TJ 14.54m – 15^th

4x100m Relay – Kalvelage, Palmer, Jahn, Sandbulte – 40.58 – 7^th

Braden Jahn 400m 48.26 – 38^th

Ben Thelander Javelin 59.52m – 15^th
Up Next The next meet the Raiders will be the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. That will take place on Wednesday May 22^nd through Friday May 24^th.

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

Print Friendly Version

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