Warriors Place Seventh at GPAC Outdoors

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Midland University joined athletes from around the in Orange City, Iowa this weekend for the 2024 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Championships held a De Valois Stadium. The Warriors saw a handful of solid performances of the two-day meet, earning a 7th-place team finish with a total of 39 points.

Krista Hardy ascended to the top spot in the high jump with a height of 1.68m. It tied a season-best in the event which is also an NAIA A Standard.

Also reaching an A Standard at the meet was Maggie Heesch. She improved upon her distance in the shot put, reaching 14.06m to place 4th. She also placed 4th in the hammer throw with a best of 50.38m and was 8th in the discus with a distance of 40.41m.

Myia Johnson earned team points in both the 10,000m and the 5,000m races. On day one, she placed 4th in the 10k with a time of 40:50.15 and then ran a time of 19:13.50 in the 5k on Saturday to place 8th. Her 10,000m time was the best of the season.

Madyson Ray had a successful meet by placing in the heptathlon as well as the 400m hurdles. In the multis, she tallied a new career-best point total of 4033 to earn 5th. She ran a time of 1:08.29 in the hurdles, placing 8th.

Neenah Guerrero placed 6th in the long jump with a jump of 5.41m. She was also a member of two relay teams.

The Warriors' 4x100m relay team of Amber Rodgers, Guerrero, Dala Drowne, and Navaeh Sarabia earned 7th place with a time of 50.38. The 4x400m team also earned a 7th-place finish. That team ran a time of 4:11.33 and was comprised of Sarabia, Ray, Guerrero, and Drowne.

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.