Warriors Leap Way to Fifth at GPAC Championship

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Athletes from around the conference ascended upon the track and field in Orange City, Iowa this weekend for the 2024 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Championships. Midland University had several standout performances at De Valois Stadium, propelling them to a 5th-place team finish with 94.50 points over the two-day meet.

On day one, the Warriors got things going with a few field events along with some of the longer races on the track. Robert Atwater opened up with a 3rd place finish in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 4.70m. Later in the day, he took home 4th in the long jump with a best of 7.10m.

In the javelin, Midland had a pair of athletes earning team points by finishing in the top eight. Ross McMahon picked up his first medal of the meet with a 4th place finish of 52.41m while Josiah Meyer placed 7th with a throw of 50.71m.

The Warriors' 4x800m relay team earned the first set of medals on the track with a 3rd place finish. The team of Lucas Hjortkjaer, Henri Stoeckermann, Braden Taylor, and Blake Olbrich turned in a time of 7:54.32.

Wrapping up the first day of the meet was Jonathan Mahoney in the 10,000m race. He turned in a career-best time of 32:15.42 to place 4th in the final event of the day.

Day two saw the Warriors make a quick return to the stadium. On the track, the 4x100m relay team of Marell Finks, Aiden Mountain, Noah Sherman, and Mats Albertz ran a time of 43.26 to place 6th. Later on, Evan Shepard turned in a finals' time of 14.82 in the 110m hurdles to place 4th.

In the 800m race, Midland had a pair of runners picking up valuable team points in Hjortkjaer and Stoeckermann. The duo placed 4th and 7th, respectively, with times of 1:54.95 and 1:56.99.

In the 400m hurdles, Shandon Reitzell placed 2nd with a blistering time of 53.56. Not only did he reach the NAIA A Standard in the event, but he also broke the oldest program record that was set by Ken Meier back in 1976.

Mahoney picked up a second medal of the meet, this time in the 5,000m race. Once again, he turned in his best time ever, running a 15:03.67 to place 3rd.

Wrapping up the day on the track was the 4x400m relay team of Olbrich, Sherman, Hjortkjaer, and Stoeckermann. They combined for a time of 3:24.88 to place 5th in the final race of the meet.

In the field on the final day of the championships, Garrett Guindon picked up an 8th-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 13.37m in his second-to-last attempt.

While that was taking place, the Warriors were showcasing their talent and depth in the high jump. With one-third of the jumpers in the field, Midland took home the top four spots. KeRon Blackwell cleared a height of 2.02m for 4th while Reitzell, Atwater, and McMahon all reached 2.05m. By way of the tie-breaking procedures, which involves misses as previous heights, the three-way tie was broken. McMahon was awarded 3rd, Atwater received 2nd, and Reitzell earned his third outdoor GPAC title.

With just over a week before the field for the 2024 NAIA National Championships is set, Midland will likely send a small group looking to garner qualifying marks next week. Two possible meets include the Concordia Twilight meet on Friday, May 10 and the Loper Twilight meet on Saturday, May 11. The 2024 NAIA Outdoor National Championships will be held on May 22-24 in Marion, Indiana.