ADRIAN, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the Don Kleinow Invitational Saturday at Siena Heights University.
The women’s team saw its second athlete book a trip to the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships as freshman Katrina Tovar hit the NAIA B standard in the pole vault. Tovar cleared a height of 11’ 5.75” (3.50m) to earn ninth place in the event. Sophomore Bethany Kuenzer, who has also qualified for the championship meet in the event, earned fifth place with a mark of 11’ 9.75” (3.60m), which matched her career-best.
Tovar also had a standout performance in the long jump as she claimed fifth place. She jumped 17’ 7” (5.36m), a distance that was just three inches shy of the program record.
Junior Grace Sallee posted a new school record in the hammer throw. Her toss of 124’ 7” (37.98m) smashed her previous PR and bested the program’s all-time mark by almost four feet.
Freshman Ryann Laier recorded the fifth-best mark in program history in the discus with a throw of 122’ 6” (37.34m) to earn ninth place out of 36 competitors in the event.
On the track, the Cougars were led by sophomore Mycah Ridder. Ridder posted a career-best time in the 100 meter dash to punch her ticket to the event finals where she would claim fourth place in 12.69. She would also go on to take sixth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.41.
In the 400 meter dash, freshman Jaydn Fuerst captured second place, finishing the race in 1:00.69. Fellow freshman Kayla Kilgore was close behind in seventh place with a time of 1:03.22.
The 4×100 meter relay team comprised of Jessica VanHeuvelen, Amanda Luurtsema, Ally Jackson and Ridder etched their names into the SAU record books. The team’s 50.18 was the fifth-fastest performance all-time.
On the men’s side, junior Daniel Garza (pictured above) grabbed second place in the 10,000 meter run, completing the race in 33:18.77. Senior Tyler Babinec followed in eighth place with a time of 34:29.59.
Also on the track, junior Alex Lodes and senior Uriah Rogers advanced to the 100 finals. Lodes took fourth place in 10.94 while Rogers finished eighth in 11.26. Lodes would also PR in the 200 with a time of 22.12 to earn third in the event.
After breaking the school’s 60 meter hurdles record during the indoor season, freshman Joshua Smith has the 110 meter hurdles record in his sights now and inched his way closer to the all-time best mark. Smith finished third in the event with a time of 15.01. He and his father, SAU Hall of Famer Darrow Smith, now own the top two times in school history in the event.
Sophomore Kevin Smith grabbed eighth place in the 400 meter hurdles with a career-best 57.02.The 4×100 team, made up of Austin Hickerson, Rogers, Smith and Lodes, finished third in the race and recorded the fourth-fastest time ever at SAU with a 42.60.
Smith also made a mark in the field events earning fourth in the long jump and sixth in the triple jump. He jumped 22’ 3.75” (6.80m) in the long jump and a career-best 43’ 8.5” (13.32m) in the triple jump.
Spring Arbor will compete at the Otterbein University Twilight Invitational on Friday, Apr. 22 in its final tune-up before the Crossroads League Championships on Apr. 28-29 in Marion, Indiana.
