The Northwestern College track and field teams competed at the Dordt College Invitational and four more Red Raiders qualified for the NAIA Indoor Championships. Laura Jacobson qualified in her third event of the season with a first place finish in the 600m run. The senior set a new meet record with a time of 1:37.13, over four seconds faster than the second place runner. Both Olivia Johnson and Charity Miles qualified for nationals in their second event. Johnson took first in the 1000m run and like Jacobson, set a new meet record in the event with a time of 3:00.99. Miles qualified in the 5000m run with a first place and meet record time of 18:12.4. Dan Walhof qualified in his first event of the season with a second place finish in the 5000m with a time of 15:18.59. In doing so, Walhof broke a 24-year school record set by Tom Schultz. He ran just .28 seconds behind the first place Morningside runner, who set the new meet record with a time of 15:18.31. Walhof also placed fourth in the one mile run with a time of 4:30.79.
Including those listed above, Red Raider athletes recorded four individual winners and 15 top five finishes. Logan Ogden took first place in the shot put with a toss of 45-00.75 while teammate Paul Lundgren earned fourth place with a toss of 42-08.5. Kaitlin Beaver finished fourth in the high jump, clearing 5-01. Emily DeWeerd placed fifth in the 55m hurdles with a time of 9.16 and later set a new school record in the 200m dash with a time of 27.21, good for sixth place. Kyle Sauter placed second in the 55m hurdles with a time of 8.05. Luke Hofmeyer earned a third place finish in the 55m dash with a time of 6.79. Tyler Peekenschneider placed fifth in the 1000m run with a time of 2:39.4. Jess Regan and Lori Wolf round out the top finishers as Regan placed fifth in the 400m run while Wolf finished in fifth place in the one mile run with a time of 5:41.46.
In relays, the women's 4x800 relay finished in third place with a time of 9:50.62. Team members include Stephanie Powell, Akacia Wentworth, Lori Wolf and Olivia Johnson. For the men, Northwestern placed third and fifth in the 4x800 with times of 8:07.57 and 8:31.43. Members of the third place team include: Ben Brown, Brock Jensen, Mark Den Hartog and Andy Norris. Finally, the men's 4x400 relay team of Kyle Sauter, Kevin Krueger, Brock Jensen and Ben Brown placed second, just .7 in back of first place, with a time of 3:28.96.
Northwestern will next run at the BVU Open this Friday, Feb. 8.
