JTV Sports | May 10th, 2019 | Chris Bauman

Spring Arbor, Michigan– The 2019 Crossroads League Track & Field Championships, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University, came to a close on Friday with the Spring Arbor University women’s team earning a fifth place finish and the men’s team placing eighth. The SAU women accumulated 59.5 points and the men finished with 29.

In total, the Cougars recorded five All-Crossroads League performances, including two league champions as Kyara Black won the high jump and Max Whittredge claimed first in the 800 meter run.

Bethel College captured the men’s team title with a total of 172.5 points while Indiana Wesleyan ran away with the women’s championship, collecting 218.5 points.

• After finishing third at the league championships in the 800 a season ago, Max Whittredge turned in a personal-best 1:54.28 on Friday to capture his first league title.
• The 4×800 meter relay team – made up of Deion Feldpausch, Timothy Nelson, Trent Smith and Whittredge – qualified for the NAIA outdoor national championships. The Cougars completed the race in fourth place with an NAIA B standard time of 7:47.55.
• Zach Lamphere came up just short of earning All-Crossroads League honors. The sophomore finished in fourth place in the 110 meter hurdles with a career-best time of 15.59.

• Kyara Black claimed her second straight league title in the high jump after winning the event at the indoor championships. Black cleared a new career-best 5′ 7.75″ (1.72m), which ranks second in SAU history and currently ranks fourth in the NAIA.
• Jaydn Fuerst narrowly missed winning the 400. The senior from Flushing, Michigan clocked in at a personal-best 58.19 and was just 0.16 seconds behind the winner.
• Sarah Maschino finished in the top-3 in, both, the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles. Maschino posted career-best times in both events, including a program record 14.95 in the 100 hurdles. Her time also hit the NAIA B standard to send her to the NAIA national championships.
• Three Cougars posted personal-bests in the pole vault – all three were also SAU Top 10 performances. Vada Lashaway cleared 10′ 0″ (3.05m) and finished sixth in the event. Tirzah Wood (9′ 6.25″) followed in eighth and Davita Mater (9′ 0.25″) was right behind in ninth.
• There were two more program Top 10 times set in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Alexandra Garcia finished eighth with a time of 12:23.60 while Mackenzy Kasper placed 12th in 13:02.41.

Spring Arbor will wrap up its regular season at the Hillsdale Last Chance Classic on Thursday, May 9 before setting its sights on the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama on May 23-25.

For more local sports news and information, you can connect with JTV Sports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This article was written by Spring Arbor University’s Chris Bauman.