Running past the competition
Outdoor track continues season
By Tara Bartgis
ASST. COPY EDITOR
Evangel’s outdoor track team has broken records after two meets this season.
The team went to the Pittsburg State Invitational in Kansas March 27. Nick Hestand, junior, broke Evangel’s record in the 5000 meter run. Mitchell Scott, junior, also broke Evangel’s record in the high jump. Both athletes finished fifth in their respective events.
Also at the Pittsburg meet, Max Schuman, senior, participated in the half-marathon Frisco Run held in Springfield. His time qualified him for the NAIA National Championship in
the marathon.
The track team also traveled to Central Methodist University April 10. The men’s team finished seventh in points at the meet, and the women’s team finished 12th. Nick Hestand won the steeple chase event, breaking Evangel’s record--a record that Hestand set last season--and qualifying for the NAIA National Championship in the event. Kristen Ostrem, junior, won the 5000 meter run, breaking Evangel’s record in
the process.
Steve Maruszak is the coach of the men’s outdoor track team. “We did well,” Maruszak said. “We don’t have complete squads, which means we don’t participate in every event. Our main goal is for the kids to improve week
to week.”
Other individual scorers on the men's side included a fifth place finish by Schuman in the 5000 meter run, while Matt Nicklas, freshman, finished sixth in the 400 meter dash in a season-best time of 49.86. Austin Jacobs, sophomore, also posted a sixth-place finish in the 1500 meter run.
Maruszak and Lynn Bowen, coach for the women’s team, have the same set of priorities for the track team. According to the two coaches, the goal is first to improve personal records, break school records and qualify for the NAIA National
Championship meet.
“Individually, [improvement is] what we hope happens,” Bowen said. “Quite a few teammates have already met these goals,” Maruszak said.
The team heads to William Jewell College tomorrow
to compete.