Last weekend the Northwestern track and field team competed in the Dennis Young Invitational against 13 other universities.
NW athletes shone as four Red Raiders finished first, there were nine personal bests and 28 season bests recorded.
Along with the strong finishes, more NW athletes qualified for the national meet. Among them was the women’s 4×800-meter relay and junior Jeriah Dunk in the 55-meter.
Dunk finished first in the 55-meter against 51 other contestants with a time of 6.46 seconds. He followed that race up with a time of 22.97 in the 200-meter, in which he placed fourth.
The 4×800-meter relay finished first with a time of 9 minutes and 45 seconds. Junior Dawn Gildersleeve, senior Brianna Hobbs, junior Jackie Niewenhuis and freshman Lauren Spranger became automatic NAIA national meet qualifiers.
Sophomore Skyler Giddings won the mile with a time of 4:28, six seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
Redshirt junior Matt Huseman won the men’s high jump, and cleared six feet, seven inches.
Other notable finishes for the day included sophomore Megan Walhof with a third-place finish in the 400-meter. Hobbs had a sixth-place finish in the 600-meter.
In the women’s 1,000-meter, Gildersleeve finished second, Niewenhuis finished fourth and senior Leslie Stover finished seventh.
Senior Amy Van Skike finished fourth in the women’s mile.
In the women’s 55-meter hurdles, junior Tena Jeppesen finished sixth, and freshman Abby Stevens came in ninth.
Walhof, freshman Sarah Wedel, Niewenhuis and Spranger placed fifth in the 4×400-meter.
In the women’s triple jump, sophomore Allyson Austin placed sixth. Sophomore Jena Krebs finished fifth in the shot put.
Senior Brandon Hammack placed seventh in the 55-meter and sixth in the 400-meter.
Junior Jesse Selgeby finished ninth in the 200-meter, and junior Adam Potter placed eighth in the 600-meter.
Freshman Elliot Johnson and redshirt sophomore Taylor Bodin placed fifth and sixth respectively in the 800-meter.
Junior Zach Wittenberg, sophomore Logan Hovland, Giddings and freshman Kyle Anderson came in second, third, fourth and fifth place respectively in the 1,000-meter. They finished within a second of one another.
In the one-mile, freshman Elliot Stoltz came in fourth.
In the 55-meter hurdles junior Kyle Heidebrink finished third.
In the men’s 4×400-meter, a group of Hammack, Bodin, freshman Kevin Martinson and senior Brandon Schuler placed fifth.
Sophomore Jordan Micalef finished 10th in the long jump, and sophomore Ben Green placed seventh in the triple jump.
NW will compete at 9:45 a.m. Saturday at Dordt.
