Pilots Sit in First After Day One at Crossroads League Championship
The Bethel men’s track and field team got off to a fast start at the 2017 Crossroads League Championship Tournament by scoring 78.33 points through eight events and sitting firmly at the top of the leaderboard. They lead Marian University who currently occupies second with 54 total points. On the women’s side, BC boasts one individual league champion after the first full day of competition and sits in fifth place overall in the field of 10.
The BC men were led by Ryan Jones who wrapped up not one but two individual league titles with a first-place finish in the long jump and the triple jump. Jones, a senior, took top honors in the long jump with a leap of 7.28 meters, which eclipses the NAIA ‘A’ standard and earns him a trip to the NAIA National Championship later this month. He picked up the triple jump crown with a mark of 13.64 meters. Also scoring in both jumping events was Philp Fox who took third and fifth respectively. Fox also chipped in additional team points by tying for eighth in the high jump. Overall, BC scored 25 points in throwing events thanks to the trio of Kyle Ostrander, Erik Escobedo and Elias Micozzi. Ostrander took runner-up honors in the shot put with a toss of 16.2 meters, which is an NAIA ‘A’ qualifying mark and a season best for the senior standout. Escobedo picked up a pair of fourth-place finishes in the discus and the shot, scoring 12 of the throwing squads’ 25 points. Micozzi finished the day with a sixth-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 14.2 meters.
On the track, the Pilots landed two top-five finishers in the 10,000-meter run with Jordan Annis taking fourth place in the race in 32:25.88 and Jarrett Walbott claiming fifth with a time of 33:15.32. The men’s 4×800-meter relay team of Collin Wiersema, Andy Herbert, Joel Hartman and Jalen Alexander picked up all-league honors with a third-place finish in the relay event with a time of 7:57.86.
In women’s action, Bethel’s Danielle Wojciechowski earned top honors in the women’s pole vault with a new BC track and field outdoor record vault of 4.11 meters. The sophomore has spent the entire spring season assaulting the record previously held by Taylor Tepper at 3.7 meters by breaking or tying it four times. Taylor Pennington also landed all-league honors with a runner-up finish in the long jump with a mark of 5.36 meters. Additionally, the Pilots picked up points from Chelsey Wakes in the high jump (1.5 meters), Trisha Cousino in the shot put (11.66 meters), and Lindsey Grochowalski in the long jump (4.81 meters).
Action at the Crossroads League Championship will conclude tomorrow.