RESULTS

ALMA, Mich. – Calvin piled up points on the opening full day of the MIAA Championships. After Thursday's competition, the Knights sit in second place with 78 points, 18 points behind Trine with Albion third (33), Olivet fourth (28) and Hope fifth (20).

Calvin flexed its muscle in the distance events on Thursday, winning crowns in the 10K and 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Senior Thaine Nederveld (Columbus, Oh./Columbus Alternative School) led the charge by running away for the win in the 10,000 meters in a time of 31:16.46 with senior Luke Witvliet (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) third in 31:30.79.

The Knights went 1-3-4 in the steeplechase. Senior Eric Swinson (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern HS) claimed his third MIAA steeplechase title in four years with a first place time of 9:26.52. Sophomore Noah Laslo (Oak Brook, Il./Timothy Christian HS) was third (9:39.88) and junior Ryan Sarkett (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair HS) fourth (9:42.91).

In the long jump, Calvin went 3-5-7 with sophomore Connor Johnson (Kingsley, Mich./Kingsley HS) third (21-11 ½), sophomore Luke Nguyen (Houston, Texas Carl Wunsche Sr.) fifth (21-2) and freshman Rhys Bedford (Delton, Mich./Delton Kellogg HS) seventh (20-8 ½).

Graduate student Matthew Toldy (Huron, Oh./Huron HS) took fourth with a career-best throw of 164-1 while senior Wil Goodpaster (Hamilton, Mich./Hamilton HS) took fifth in the pole vault with a season-best vault of 12-10.

The Knights had a strong day in prelim events on the track.

Sophomore Bob Horton (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) had the second-fastest time in the 400 meter hurdles. The Knights advanced four runners into the finals of the 400 meters with senior Koby VanderWoude (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia HS) third, freshman Benjamin Habers (Lake Ann, Mich./Traverse City West HS) fourth, junior Connor Lubberts (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) sixth and graduate student Corbin DeBoer (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) seventh. VanderWoude also advanced into Friday's 200 meter dash finals with a top-eight finish in Thursday's prelims.

Sophomore Zach VanBaren (Hudsonville, Mich./Covenant Christian HS) and Bedford both advanced to Friday's 110 meter hurdles final. In the 800 meter dash, senior Caleb Schillinger (North Liberty, Ia./North Liberty HS)  and freshman Abe VanDuinen (Pentwater, Mich./Pentwater HS) both advanced to Friday's finals.

COACHES COMMENT: "A great first day for our men's track and field team," said Calvin head track and field coach Adam Haldorson. "We had personal-bests up-and-down our roster and continued to score points and advance individuals to tomorrow's finals. It's a tight race for the top three (team) spots and our goal is to finish as high as possible. Our guys are giving their absolute best effort which I'm extremely pleased to see. We've had a few people fight through injuries for the good of the team already. This is a true team with a tight bond that wants to compete for one another. We plan to carry that same collective spirit into tomorrow's competition."
NEXT UP: Friday's competition begins with field event finals at noon with finals on the track set to begin at 4:15 p.m.