Competing in a deep field, the women’s team had a strong performance. “The Maple Leaf women’s team put themselves with the state’s elite teams,” said Coach Rick Clark, “by finishing fifth out of the field of 18 schools.”

Katie Sowers, a senior, led the charge in the field events, winning the javelin at 132′ 9″ and breaking the 130′ mark for the first time in Goshen College history. Peni Acayo, a sophomore, dominated the competition in the triple jump with a winning jump of 36′ 11 3/4″ that broke her previous school record by over a foot.

Deanna Kronk, a senior, also had a stellar meet, hitting national qualifying marks in three throwing events. Kronk placed second in the shot put (42′ 7 1/2″), third in the discus (134′ 10″) and fifth in the hammer throw (156′ 2″).

On the track, Abri Houser and Laura Harnish, both seniors, had excellent meets for the Maple Leafs. Houser won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.08 and placed third in the 400 meter hurdles  at 1:07.19. Harnish placed third in the 1500 meters, finishing with a personal best of 4:46.80.

The men’s team placed 15th out of 19 schools. Samuel Chege, a senior, nearly won the 800 meters run but was overtaken in the last 20 meters.  Still, Chege finished second in 1:56.23, which broke the college’s oldest track record, beating Lynn Smith’s 800 meters time of 1:56.24 from 1968 by one hundredth of a second.

David Rumsey, a senior, also ran an outstanding 1500 meters, placing seventh with a personal best time of 4:03.21. In the 400 meter hurdles Jon Miller, a sophomore, and Tyler Keller, a junior, placed seventh and eighth with times of 56.67 and 57.19, respectively.

The Leafs wasted no time, opening the meet with a three-person sweep in the 3000-meter race walk. Tina Peters, a junior, took first place with a time of 15.17.35; Tessa Horst, a senior, placed second in 16.10.79; and Laura Stoesz, a senior, followed closely behind taking third with a time of 16.44.24.

After competing in the N.A.I.A. Indoor National Championships several weeks ago, all three women finished under the qualifying mark for the outdoor event held in St. Louis in May. Meanwhile, David Horst, a first-year, set a new Goshen College record, completing the 5000-meter race walk with a time of 32.09.03.

The Maple Leafs continued to hold their own in the 4×800 meter relay even though John Tamirat, a junior, competed with a fever. David Rumsey, a senior; Billy Funk, a first-year; Sam Chege, a senior; and Tamirat finished second with a time of 8.16.77. The four men now hold the record for the fastest 4×800 relay time by Maple Leaf athletes on the college’s home track.

Speed picked up in the 1,500 meter race as Laura Harnish, a senior, crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 4.57.55. Rumsey followed with a win in the men’s 1,500 meter with a time of 4.13.69.

Goshen College later found three more victories on the track. Abri Houser, a senior, not only took first place, but also hit a national qualifying time of 14.94 in the 100-meter hurdles. Chege, with a time of 2.01.41, and Rachel Baker, a junior, with a time of 2.26.71, brought home the final first place track victories of the day in the 800 meters.

The Maple Leafs did not stop with track wins. The Leafs continued to flex strength and agility in the throwing and jumping field events.

Deanna Kronk, a senior, hit the national qualifying mark in a first place hammer throw with a distance of 151′5”. Kronk also brought in two second place throws in the shot put with distances of 38′ 4 1/4” and a 124′ 5” throw in the discus.

Kronk was not the only one to put the throwing competition to the test. Katie Sowers, a senior, sealed second place in the javelin with a distance of 122′ 6″.

“Another highlight was a sweep of the jumps by our Ugandan jump queen, Peni Acayo,” said Goshen College Coach Rick Clark.

Acayo single-handedly dominated the long jump, triple jump and high jump with wins in each. In the triple jump, Acayo’s mark of 35′11 ¾” broke her own school record set as a first-year in 2008.

“We had a good team outdoor opener that displayed quality performances as well as depth,” said Coach Clark. “I was very pleased with the upper-class leadership that was exhibited both on the track and field and also within the team.”

The men’s team tallied a total of 107 points to finish third out of eight teams participating. The Maple Leaf women scored 167 points to finish second out of seven teams participating.

With a full-team season opener behind them, the Maple Leafs will travel to Anderson University on Saturday.

Tina Peters, a junior, was the only female competitor on the track for the Maple Leafs. Peters ran a personal best in the 5,000 meters to place sixth with a time of 20:34.

Several throwers had good meets for the women’s team. Katie Sowers, a senior, started the outdoor season with a win in the javelin throw with a 128′ 4″ toss that hit the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics outdoor qualifying mark for nationals. Rachel Mast, a sophomore, added depth to the event, placing fourth with a throw of 101′ 6″.

Coming off her appearance at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Deanna Kronk, a senior, had a good showing in Defiance. Kronk placed second in the hammer throw (147′0″), third in the shot put (38′ 11 ½”)  and sixth in the discus (115′ 1″).

The men’s team also had several strong early season marks. Jon Miller, a sophomore, won the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 56.17. Ben Bouwman, a junior, ran a personal best in the 10,000 meters (33:20.17) to finish second. His brother Nick Bouwman, a junior, also ran a strong race finishing fifth in 35:56.71.

Three first-year Maple Leafs also had strong showings for the men’s team on Saturday. Ian Shelly, a first year, placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles (19.15). Alain Chaponniere, a first year, took seventh in the 400 meters (53.03), and Billy Funk, also a first year, placed seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:08.50.

Despite competing without full teams, both the men’s and the women’s teams finished fifth with 35 points.

The Maple Leafs will host the Goshen Invitational on Saturday. The meet is the only home event of the outdoor season and starts at 11:30 a.m. with the race walk and all field events.

Sam Chege grew up in Kenya and is now a runner for Goshen College. Photo by Brandon Long.

For Samuel Chege, running has been more than a sport. It has been a way of life. Growing up on his family’s farm in the countryside of Kenya, Chege’s feet were his means of transportation as he hunted, farmed, commuted to town and ran to school.

“Running was not something to gain interest in since I had to run to get to where I needed to go,” said Chege, a senior.

Using what he had been doing throughout his childhood, Chege began his running career competing barefoot in Kenya’s interscholastic championships.

According to Chege, it is normal to run without shoes in his country, and due to the tough competition, shoes were the least of his concern. “Since all the young runners strive to win, there is no way of planing for the interschool championships,” Chege said.

Chege eventually continued his barefoot running career competing in the Fila running camp in Kenya. “There are quite a number of running camps in Kenya,” Chege said. “There are especially a good number in my countryside like Nike, Puma and Adidas.”

After winning a race organized by a scout from the United States, Chege was recruited by Cloud Community College in Kansas. Two years later, Chege was on his way to competing at the N.C.A.A. District One level for Wichita State University. “I didn’t get a chance to perform well at Wichita since I had suffered a quad injury and a cuff muscle,” Chege said.

With some persuasion by Ramadhan Audy, also from Kenya, Chege found himself enrolling in Goshen College one year later with ambitions of completing a degree in nursing.

“I heard about Goshen from Ramadhan Audy, who is like a brother to me,” Chege said. “My experience has been fun. I have met amazing teammates and traveled to p

laces that I never imagined I would see while in Kenya. Despite the cold, most places have been great.”

Chege is currently in his second semester at Goshen College and has broken four school records, which include the distance medley relay, one mile, 1000 meters and 800 meters. With the outdoor track season quickly approaching, Chege will have one more chance to continue breaking records.

Tina Peters, a junior, won her third consecutive 3,000 meter race walk national championship at the N.A.I.A. indoor competition. Peters’ time of 14:58.96 was better than her last year’s winning time, 15:22.42, and was a comfortable 23 seconds better than the rest of the competition.

Peters’ win also helped the women’s team place 16th in a field of nearly 80 schools. This is the fourth straight year that the women’s team’s has finished in the top 20.

Tessa Horst and Laura Stoesz, both seniors, had career best performances in the race walk, finishing 7th with a time of 16:16.45 and 8th with a time of 16:31.05.

Abri Houser, a senior, broke her own Goshen College records in the pentathlon and the 60 meter hurdles. Houser finished 11th in the pentathlon with 3,157 points and 12th in the hurdles in 9.15.

Also competing on the women’s side was Deanna Kronk, a senior, who finished 15th in the weight throw, with a distance of 49′ 11″ and 18th in the shot put distancing 40′ 10 ½”. Peni Acayo, a sophomore, placed 19th in the the triple jump distancing 35′1″. Laura Harnish, a senior, finished 27th in the 3000 meter run in 10:54.22.

On the men’s side, two Goshen College athletes reached event finals and narrowly missed All-American honors. Samuel Chege, a senior, finished seventh and broke his own Goshen College record in the 800 meters in 1:54.40. David Rumsey, a senior, ran a personal best in the mile for the fifth consecutive meet and finished ninth with a time of 4:20.16.

The men’s and women’s track teams will open their outdoor seasons at the Dick Small Invite in Defiance, Ohio on March 21.

“Although the meet was used with an emphasis on individual performances for the Maple Leafs,” said Coach Rick Clark, “the women’s team still finished sixth, while the men’s team placed ninth.”

Deanna Kronk, a senior, hit NAIA qualifying marks in both the shot put (40′ 11″) and the weight throw (51′ 6 1/2″) for the third consecutive week. “Deanna had another fine meet in the throws,” said Clark. “[She won] the shot put and finished runner-up in the weight throw with a season best toss that should move her up in the NAIA listings.”

Laura Harnish, a senior, continued her strong indoor track season, qualifying for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Indoor Nationals in two more events. “Laura had an outstanding meet on the track, blazing to an automatic NAIA qualifying mark in the mile where her 5:13.52 placed her third,” Clark said. “She came back later in the meet for her first 3000 meter of the season, racing to a close runner-up finish (10:28.41), but in a time that also hit the NAIA automatic mark.”

Despite primarily focusing on competing the pentathlon, Abri Houser, a senior, again hit the NAIA qualifying mark in the 60 meter hurdles with a personal season best time of 9.19 seconds.

On the men’s side, Samuel Chege, a senior, had another dominant performance. Chege finished first in the 800 meters with a 1:55.49 time that automatically qualified him for nationals. Chege’s effort shattered Justin Wikerd’s 2001 record time (1:58.70) by three seconds.

David Rumsey, a senior, barely missed the NAIA qualifying time in the mile, finishing third with a time of 4:24.18.

The men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete in the Boilermaker Invite in West Lafayette on Saturday.

“For an opening meet,” said Goshen Head Coach Rick Clark, “we had some real quality performances.”

The Maple Leafs men’s distance medley relay team finished second at the season opener with a record-breaking time for Goshen College of 10:40.34. Exceeding the previous record of 11:00.14 that had not been touched since 2005, were team members Samuel Chege, a senior; Alain Chaponniere, a first-year; Billy Funk, a first-year; and David Rumsey, a senior.

The women’s team also had an exceptional day. Laura Harnish, a senior, qualified for the NAIA Indoor National Championships in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:35.01. Laura Stoesz, a senior, and Tessa Horst, a senior, finished third and fourth in the 3,000-meter racewalk.

Other National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics qualifiers included Deanna Kronk, a senior, who tossed the 20-pound weight throw 49′ 1 ½” and Abri Houser, a senior, who qualified with a time of 9.39 in the 60-meter hurdles.

Though the Maple Leafs lost four athletes to graduation, their depth remains consistent with plenty of returning talent.

“Last year,” said Clark, “the women’s team placed third in the Mid-Central College Conference, which is the highest finish in program history. We have the capabilities to be as strong since we have almost everyone back and with another year of experience.”