Raider track and field is officially underway, and the season looks promising following the Dordt Indoor Invite on Jan. 11, where some record-breaking performances and first place results were achieved. There was a three-way tie for women’s pole vault between Northwestern’s Allie Hough, Maiya Speer, and Aleigh Zettle, as well as victories for Tierney Huss in the Women’s 60m, Carson van Sickle in the Men’s 800m, and Braden Kalvelage in the men’s 200m and long jump.
Emma Blum, competing in her third track season as a Raider, also enjoyed a successful day, not only winning the 200m and 400m events, but besting the school record in the indoor 200m with a time of 26.11 seconds.
These performances are encouraging and motivating for Blum, who hopes to place near the top of the field at the Great Plains Athletic Conference championships in both events next month and qualify for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics indoor track championships in the 400m, which she is only half a second from accomplishing a few weeks into the 2025 campaign.
“I feel great about the start to the indoor season,” Blum said. “I worked hard over the summer and throughout fall training, and it has been so rewarding to see my hard work pay off.”
Blum does not attribute all her success to herself, however. “Even though my hard work has certainly played a role in the success I have experienced so far this season, I know all my achievements are a gift from God.”
Head Coach Scott Bahrke shared Blum’s optimism for the start of the season and said he was pleased with the efforts he saw from his team in the Dordt meet.
“I thought our athletes were engaged in their competitions and left everything they had on the track, runway or ring,” Bahrke said. “It was good for some of our incoming freshmen to get their first taste of a college competition and work out some jitters.”
There are over 40 new members of the track and field team this season, but whether a newcomer or a veteran, everyone is focused on making progress towards their goal and encouraging those training around them.
“We work on always giving 100% in practices and at meets,” Bahrke said.
With such early success and determination, there are certainly more outstanding performances in store for the Raiders as the season continues.
