[Men's Indoor Track & Field] Men's Track and Field Back on Top in the GPAC
Doane Men's Track and Field came into the GPAC Championship with a battle on their hands as they looked to dethrone Dordt, the 2021 indoor team champion. Last year's meet was held on the Defenders home track but this year the event was in Crete and the Tigers were able to defend their home and win the 2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championship. Doane posted 198 team points while Dordt was second with 177 points.
Action started on Friday with the heptathlon but the first points would not be awarded until Day Two of the championship. Saturday's action began with the conclusion of the heptathlon and Doane would place three in the top eight to earn All-GPAC honors. David Arcos took second with 4,800 points while Mike Pulliam (SO/Wilber, Neb.) was fifth with 4,410 points and Mason Zimmerman (SO/Wilber, Neb.) finished sixth with 4,341 points.
Field events started the main portion of the meet as the weight throw kicked off the afternoon slate. Matthew Campbell (SR/Ainsworth, Neb.) was locked into a battle with Midland's Dylan Kucera. Kucera took the lead on the first throw and improved his mark to 19.95m on his second toss. Campbell went in front in the third round of throws with a mark of 19.99m. Kucera was unable to surpass the mark and Campbell picked up the victory, capping the event with the final throw. He hit a toss of 20.19m (66-03.00) on the final throw to improve his top season mark for the fifth straight week.
Coming through with personal best marks were Luke Partridge (SO/Wahoo, Neb.) who placed fifth with a throw of 18.05m (59-02.75) and Trey Dickey (FR/Beaver Crossing, Neb.) who placed sixth with a mark of 17.68m (58-00.25). Both men hit automatic qualifying marks.
Kucera was able to best Campbell in the shot put, however, the Tigers' thrower still hit a season-best mark of 16.36m (53-08.25). The throw improved his automatic qualifying mark and moved Campbell into the Top 10 nationally.
Arcos met the NAIA provisional standard in the high jump as he tied for second with a clearance of 2.01m (6-07.00). Joining Arcos on the all-conference list in the event was Dylan Starr (FR/Fairbury, Neb.) with a height of 1.96m (6-05.00).
Several other Tigers earned All-GPAC accolades, especially in the long and triple jump where Doane placed six and five athletes, respectively. In the long jump, Arcos placed second with a mark of 6.89m (22-07.25) and John Krejci was third with a leap of 6.86m (22-06.25). Clayton Berry (FR/Orleans, Neb.) finished fourth with a mark of 6.80m (22-03.75), Luke Davis (FR/Papillion, Neb.) was fifth with a mark of 6.64m (21-09.50), Sam Boldt (FR/Sterling, Neb.) was sixth with a jump of 6.62m (21-08.75) and Blake Kastanek (SR/Adams, Neb.) leaped 6.61m (21-08.25) to place seventh.
In the triple jump, Vince Lauenroth (JR/Crete, Neb.) placed fourth with a mark of 13.99m (45-10.75) and Trevor Malone (SO/Crete, Neb.) was fifth with the same mark of 13.99m. The tie was broken by the next best jump which Lauenroth had with a mark of 13.97m on his last attempt.
Pulliam placed second in the pole vault with a mark of 4.50m (14-09.00) and Drew Garrison (FR/DeWitt, Neb.) finished sixth with a mark of 4.05m (13-03.50). It was the only event not to have eight all-conference finishers as four of the 10 competitors did not clear a height.
On the track, JaDae Moore sprinted to a time of 6.93 seconds in the 60m dash to place second and hit a provisional NAIA qualifying time. Davis added a time of 7.03 seconds to place fifth. In the 60m hurdles, Zach Turner (SO/Crete, Neb.) met the automatic qualifying time in both the prelims and finals as he won with a time of 8.23 in the finals. Jake Long (SR/Norfolk, Neb.) placed third with a time of 8.39, Krejci was sixth with a time of 8.53, and Logan Hammond (SR/Ogallala, Neb.) was seventh with a mark of 8.61. Krejci met the provisional standard in the prelims as he had a time of 8.37.
In the 200m dash, Turner ran a time of 22.43 to place fourth and Moore finished in 22.58 to place sixth. Turner added an automatic qualifying time in the 400m dash as he placed second with a time of 49.35.
Three Tigers placed in the 600m run. Kingdon Hawes (SR/Omaha, Neb.) finished in third with a time of 1:22.59 and Aidan Wheelock (JR/Minden, Neb.) was fourth with a time of 1:22.75. Both runners met the provisional qualifying time. Jordan Tasler (JR/Atkinson, Neb.) finished sixth with a time of 1:23.63. Wheelock added an all-conference honor in the 800m run as he placed third with a time of 2:01.01.
Kalen Dockwheiler hit two personal best times and earned all-conference honors in the 1000m and mile runs. He was clocked in 2:31.01 in the 1000m and a time of 4:17.76 in the mile as both times are automatic qualifying times. Ryan Evans (SO/Waverly, Neb.) placed eighth in the 1000m with a time of 2:40.23. Sisey Tirop (FR/Eldoret, Kenya) placed eighth in the 5000m run with a time of 15:48.05 to earn All-GPAC recognition.
Doane's relay teams also placed at the conference meet but were on the outside of the all-conference honors which go to the Top 3 relay teams. The team of Chris Vincent (SO/Doniphan, Neb.), Tasler, Hammond, and Turner placed fifth in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:27.00. The 4x800m team of Adam Baker (JR/Superior, Neb.), Duncan Blankenship (SO/Rome, Ga.), Trace Ebert (JR/Bassett, Neb.), and Evans finished in fourth with a time of 8:11.87.
Doane athletes finished with 40 All-GPAC honors in the meet and met the NAIA qualifying standards 17 times.