BROOKINGS, S.D. -- The first day of the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships saw the Vanguard Lions participate in a trio of qualifying events on Thursday. Despite some positives during the heats, Vanguard got bumped in all three disiciplines. The squad will look to Chase Mars (SO/Chino Hills, CA) and Eryn Burke (SO/Yucaipa, CA) to give VU entries on Championship Saturday.
What Happened
The distance medley relay squad of Jessina Morales (SO/Lake Elsinore, CA), Penelopi Leach (JR/Madera, CA), Karla Sanchez-Ruiz (SO/Los Angeles, CA), and Kate Baranski (SO/El Cajon, CA) ran in the second heat with an understanding that they had to run under 12 minutes to qualify for Saturday. It was not to be though, as the Lions posted a time of 12:30.40, putting the team in 16th. Concordia (Neb.) was 15th with a 12:23.79. Milligan was able to hold on to the final qualifying spot with a 12:02.67. Huntington posted the top mark of 11:50.93 to set the tone for the final on Saturday.
Evan Hernandez (SO/Menifee, CA) took part in the first heat of the 5,000m and crossed the line in a time of 15:06.18. That put him in a qualifying position after the first heat, but as the final heat closed out, Hernandez's time fell down to 14th in the standings. Brint Laubach of The Master's and Montreat's Ethan Stamey snuck part Hernandez with times of 15:05.28 and 15:05.47, with Laubach taking the 12th and final qualifying position.
The women's 4x400m relay team also ended up just short in their qualifying effort. Running in the third heat, VU knew it had to beat the 3:52.11 set by MidAmerica Nazarene in the first heat to advance to the finals. Eryn Burke, Jordyn Burke (SO/Yucaipa, CA), Nohemi Anderson (JR/El Centro, CA), and Elizabeth Betten (FR/Yucaipa, CA) put the pedal down and completed the effort in 3:51.60. But VU was in a fast heat, with three other schools putting down top-eight times. Life (Ga.) flew in the second heat to set the top mark of both groups with a 3:43.40. William Carey (Miss.) and Madonna (Mich.) also put down times that landed them in the qualifying positions, with William Carey posting a 3:45.90 and Madonna setting a 3:49.95. Those times dropped the Eagles of Central Methodist to eighth but their time of 3:51.19 was good enough to edge out the Lions by .41 seconds, who finished ninth out of the 19 teams that took part.
What was Said? "It was a day of close misses but we're super proud of our athletes for competing with toughness and grit," said Head Coach Bryan Wilkins. "We're looking forward to day two tomorrow."
