Ryan Smith, a senior, once again broke his own school record in the 5,000 meter run while Nora Rangel, a first-year, posted the GC women’s lone top-five finish in the 400-meter dash last Friday evening in the Knight Open on the Marian University campus.

Smith finished the long distance haul with a time of 14 minutes, 50.51 seconds, 2.69 seconds faster than his previous record set last season in a meet at Grand Valley State. His record setting time is the seventh fastest time in the NAIA this season and gives him an automatic qualification for the NAIA national championship from May 25-27 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Rangel dashed one lap around the track to finish in 1:03.34 to give her a fifth-place finish in her heat. Joining Rangel in the top ten were Caitlin Hughey, a junior, Ginyce Haywood, a senior, and Jill Steinmetz, a junior, in their respective events.

Hughey and Haywood finished the 100 meter-dash in seventh and eighth respectively with Hughey edging Haywood by just 0.26 seconds. Steinmetz finished her 800-meter race in the tenth position in 2:33.59. The 4×400 team of Hughey, Steinmetz, Rangel and Lena Charles, a junior, combined to finish in eighth place with a time of 4:46.90.

Steven Cranston continued his strong first-year campaign with a pair of top ten finishes in the 800 and 1,500 meter-runs. The Canby, Oregon native posted a fifth place finish in the 800 with a personal best of 1:59.17. Cranston placed ninth overall in the 1,500 in 4:07.71.

Lindon McDonald, a first-year, once again paced the GC sprinters in the 100 and 200 meter-sprints with a pair of sixth place finishes in those events. McDonald posted a 100-meter time of 11.27 and remained on pace in the 200 with a 22.88 final tally.

The Maple Leaf track team finished the evening, and their second outdoor team meet, with nine career bests.

Donnae Lipinski, a first-year, highlighted her second career field event by besting her previous mark to take nineteenth in the shotput with a throw of 32-10 ½.

Lisette Bermudez, a senior, also posted her best times in both the 100 and 200, while Jennae Stutzman, a first-year, recorded her best time in the 5,000 meter. For the men, Ben Cotton and Ryan Haggerty, both first-year’s, ran their best career times in the 200 and 5,000 respectively.

Goshen’s race walkers will compete Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in the Goshen College Outdoor Race Walk. The Leafs’ track team returns to action at the Little State meet on April 21 and 22 in Marion, Indiana.