RESULTS

HOLLAND, Mich. – The Calvin men's track and field team found the pathway to its first MIAA outdoor title since 2019 on Friday at the MIAA Championships hosted by Hope College. The Knights finished the competition with 238 points to outdistance the Flying Dutchmen who took second with 215 points. The title gives Calvin a sweep of the MIAA men's crowns this year as they also won the MIAA indoor title in February.

The women's team also combined with the Calvin men's team to win both indoor and outdoor crowns in 2026, marking the first time since 2017 that Calvin has gone 4-for-4 in seeking MIAA Track and Field championships.

Founding the path to a victory appeared daunting heading into the weekend as the Knights entered Thursday without two of their top athletes who were sidelined by injuries. Thanks to dogged determination and total team grit, Calvin surged into first and refused to give hold of the trophy when the dust settled.

Calvin's Friday momentum began with a sensational set of field event performances. Sophomore Simon Vandenbroek (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) helped lead the way by repeating as league champion in the high jump with a leap of 6-6. Freshman Sam Abdalla (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) was fourth (6-4 ¾) with freshman Eric Barancik (Montrose, Mich./Chesaning HS) fifth (6-3 ½).

Earlier in the day, Abdalla used one attempt in the triple jump to take fourth in 44-5 ¼. He was part of a 2-3-4-7 Calvin finish in the event as the Knights piled up 21 points. Junior Luke Nguyen (Houston, Tx./Carl Wunsche Sr. HS) was second with a season-best mark of 46-4 ¾ with freshman Alex Guidry (Houston, Tx./Cypress Creek HS) third (44-11 ½) and junior Connor Johnson (Kingsley, Mich./Kingsley HS) seventh (43-2 ½).

Sophomore Lucas Jambekar (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) won the javelin with a career-best throw of 179-10, winning the competition by nearly 10 feet. His winning throw came on his sixth and final attempt that allowed him to move up from second to first. Meanwhile, his older brother Colin Jambekar (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) took third with a career-best throw of 161-0. Fresh off his fifth-place decathlon performance the week before, junior Jarrett Febus (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) took seventh with a career-best throw of 153-8.

Calvin also went 2-4-6 in the discus with freshman Alex Lutgring (Battle Creek, Mich./Pennfield HS) taking second with a career-best throw of 158-8. Sophomore Carson Arnould (Hudsonville, Mich./Zeeland West HS) was fourth with a career-best throw of 153-5 while freshman James McCoy (University City, Mo./Lutheran High School North) was sixth with a throw of 149-10.

The field events gave Calvin a 51-point lead heading into the Friday afternoon track competition.

The Knights took fourth in the 4x100 meter relay as the team of sophomore Alex VanSweden (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg HS), graduate student Koby VanderWoude (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia HS), freshman Hudson Shoup (Charlotte, NC/Charlotte Latin HS) and freshman Gabe Van Goor (White Lake, Mich./Clarkston HS) clocked in with a time of 42.28.

In the 1500 meters, Calvin went 2-4-8 to maintain a 45-point first place cushion in the team standings. Sophomore Vaughn Meyer (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) ran a well-executed race, moving from the outside of the pack in the final 100 meters to hunt down two competitors in the final stretch to finish second in 4:01.96. Junior Pierce Bentley (Kalamazoo, Mich./Otsego HS) also had a strong burst in the final 100 meters to finish fourth (4:02.88) while freshman Kyler Dale (Urbana, Ind./Manchester) was eighth (4:05.36),

Calvin delivered a big win in the 110 high hurdles. Seeded second, sophomore Rhys Bedford (Delton, Mich./Delton-Kellogg HS) won the race with a season-best time of 14.81 with junior Zach Van Baren (Hudsonville, Mich./Covenant Christian HS) barreling right behind in second at 15.12 while junior Bob Horton (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) was seventh (15.43).

The set of performance helped put the Knights up by over 50 points on the Flying Dutchmen.

VanderWoude came up with a big second place finish in the 400 meters (50.02) with senior Connor Lubberts (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) seventh (51.80).

In the 100 meters, Hope took the top two spots but fleet-footed freshmen Van Goor and Shoup took fifth (10.83) and sixth (10.86) respectively to provide key buffer points.

Sophomore Cody Aardsma (Dyer, Ind./Illiana Christian HS) came up with a clutch race in the 800 meters in the next race on the track, taking second in 1:55.27 for a key eight points.

The 400 meter hurdles provided big fireworks for the Knights. As he did in 2025, Horton came from behind in the final 100 meters to win the race in a season-best time of 54.93. Horton trailed heading into the last hurdle but surged ahead against a competitor from Hope to win the race by nearly a full second. Horton led a 1-4-6 Calvin finish in the race with senior Jonathan Holloway (Lawton, Mich./Lawton HS) fourth (57.16) and freshman Nolan Viviano (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower HS) sixth (57.78).

The finish gave Calvin 224 points with Hope at 178 and the Knights could smell the finish line.

VanderWoude officially got the Knights over the line by taking fifth in the 200 meter dash in a time of 22.03. The finish gave the Knights four more points and an insurmountable 40-point edge over the Flying Dutchmen with just two events left on the track.

Calvin went scoreless in the 5,000 meters but finished the meet off with a bang, winning the 4x400 meter relay as the team of sophomore Benjamin Habers (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City West HS), Lubberts, sophomore Alexander Nelson (Snow Hill, Md./Snow Hill HS) and VanderWoude took first place in a time of 3:22.21. The win marked Calvin's fourth MIAA title in the 4x400 meter relay at the outdoor championships in the last five years.

COACHES COMMENT: "A great day for Calvin University and a great day for Calvin track and field," said Calvin head track and field coach Adam Haldorson. "We had some key individuals out with injury for this meet but the guys on our team were not going to use that as an excuse. They stepped up and filled gaps, working hard for each other and getting the job done. I am extremely proud of the way this group solidified and pulled together as one unit. This was a very rewarding team victory."

FINAL MIAA TEAM SCORES

Calvin 238
Hope 215
Trine 116
Olivet 71
Albion 65
Adrian 54
Alma 33
Kalamazoo 25