track and field
January 28, 2022
Track makes noise at IWU Invitational
The men’s and women’s track teams traveled to Marion, Indiana this weekend to compete in the Indiana Wesleyan Invitational. The invitational was the fourth meet that the teams have competed in this season. While this event was not scored as a team competition, several Goshen College students placed well in their respective events. “I’ve been really happy to notice the improvement over the past few weeks,” said Rustin Nyce, head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams. “It seems like the team is getting back into the competitive mindset.” On the men’s team, Simon Graber Miller, a senior, placed...
September 16, 2021
Mishler’s part in a paralympic gold medal
Sam Grewe, a highly decorated high jumper, a three-time World Champion, a world record holder and, most recently, a Tokyo 2021 Paralympic gold medalist, is a familiar name to some at Goshen College. Coached by Kyle Mishler, track and field assistant coach, Grewe has done much of his training at GC. “Sam had a family connection to former GC high jumper Don Williams,” Mishler said. “Sam started para track and field in 2015 and Don brought him to the indoor facility to practice, which is where we first met.” Grewe contracted osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, at just 13...
March 12, 2021
GC track athletes put up all-American performance
The constant echo of cheering and nervous chatter in the newly-built Ruth Donohoe First Dakota Fieldhouse seemed to become muffled as Jacob Gerber stepped into the ring and gripped the handle of his throwing weight with both hands. It was a little after 1 p.m. on March 6, the last day of the NAIA indoor track and field national championship in Yankton, South Dakota, and this was the senior’s last shot at advancing to the finals in the weight throwing event. Gerber’s first two throws of the day had felt off as soon as the weight left his hands, and,...
April 5, 2018
Burkholder qualifies for NAIA National Championships
CARMEL, Ind — Brenner Burkholder, a senior, qualified for the NAIA National Championships this past Saturday at the Carmel Marathon. Burkholder finished 11th overall, completing the 26.2-mile marathon trek in two hours, 49 minutes, 39 seconds. Burkholder’s feat was good enough for the qualifying provisional time, making him the 11th athlete in the country to punch his or her ticket to the event. The senior’s finish is the best time thus far of qualifying participants. The NAIA National Championships will be held over the Memorial Day weekend in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The Goshen men’s and women’s track and field team...
April 13, 2017
Smith sets 5k record at Marian meet
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...
March 30, 2017
Track opens outdoor season at IWU
Two fourth-place finishes by Steven Cranston, a first-year, and top ten finishes in the 4×400 relay by Goshen College’s men and women highlighted the start of the outdoor track season for the Maple Leafs this past Saturday at the Indiana Wesleyan Polar Bear Meet. Cranston, a 2016 cross country NAIA national finalist, did not lose a step in his transition to the track as he finished his first collegiate outdoor track meet with times of four minutes, 6.38 seconds in the 1,500 meter-run and 15:48.35 in the 5,000. Just behind Cranston in the 1,500 meter event was Luke Graber, a...
March 9, 2017
Smith earns All-American at Indoor Track Nationals
Ryan Smith, a senior, picked up All-American honors on his way to a fifth-place finish in the 5000 meter at the NAIA Indoor National Championships this past Saturday in Johnson City, Tennessee. While Goshen had seven members of its indoor track and field team competing throughout the weekend, Smith was the only Maple Leaf to be named an All-American. The 4×800 relay team and a pair of race walkers also competed. Smith’s result allowed Goshen to finish 41st out of 86 competing schools, putting Goshen in the top 50 percent of the competition. The Leafs’ 4×800 team of Luke Graber,...
January 26, 2017
Track starts off on the right foot
It didn’t take long for Goshen College’s track and field teams to get off to a fast start in their 2017 season, as the opening weekend showcased a record breaking performance and a pair of national qualifiers. Goshen College hosted the Doug Yoder Race Walk inside the Roman Gingerich Recreation-Fitness Center on Saturday morning, where Siana Emery, a first-year, and Sawyer Biddle, a junior, each earned qualifying bids to the national meet which will take place in Johnson City, Tennessee in early March. Emery finished third among women with a time of 16:01.62 and Biddle turned in a time of...
April 7, 2016
Track competes at Hanover
Numerous stellar performances highlighted the Goshen College men’s and women’s track and field meet this past Saturday as the team took part in the Hanover College Invitational. The men finished with a total of 21 points, earning them a 12th place finish. The women finished the day by registering just 3 team points and taking a last place finish. The entire team had to struggle against winds blowing at about 20 miles per hour, including gusts around 35-40 mph. For the men, Ryan Smith, junior, posted Goshen’s only first-place finish at Hanover, winning the 5,000-meter run with a time of...
March 31, 2016
Goshen Track opens outdoor season
The Goshen College outdoor track and field season began last Saturday when the team traveled to the Dick Small Invitational hosted by Defiance College. In his first season at the helm, Rustin Nyce looked at the opener through positive light. “This first meet gives our team an idea of where we stand competitively. There were many exciting things that happened on the track and in the field for us and it will be encouraging to build on those things,” he said. The men finished with 45 team points, placing them seventh out of nine. Luke Graber, junior, was the star...
February 18, 2016
Power failure doesn’t darken weekend
Goshen College’s track and field team had to wait out a power failure at the Defiance College Open on Friday before most of the team could compete. Shortly before the meet began, the indoor track facility at Defiance College in Ohio lost power, forcing part of the meet to be delayed for almost two hours. Natural lighting allowed the field events to proceed but the track events had to wait until power was restored. Megan Graves, a junior, was one of the athletes who waited out the power loss before competing. “There was really nothing that we were able to...
April 17, 2014
Two to be added to ’14-’15 XC, track
Goshen College added two new athletes to next year’s roster for the track and field team, as well as the cross-country program. Nathaniel Roberts, of Sprague High School in Oregon, and Alex Oberlin, of Fairfield High School in Goshen, have recently signed their national letter of intents. Maple Leafs’ Coach Doug Yoder said, “These two guys are my top recruits for the upcoming year. They will provide immediate impact to our programs.” Roberts is a six-time Junior Olympic national champion in the race walk. Roberts will join the Goshen College’s race-walking program, which has earned 26 All-American honors in the...
April 9, 2014
Two Runners-Up Plus New School Record
The Goshen College track and field team had a successful outdoor debut with both the men’s and women’s teams taking runner-up at the Anderson University Raven Invitational on Saturday. The lady Maple Leafs finished second in the competition, qualifying behind Anderson University. The Maple Leafs won four events and had 38 top 10 finishes. Relays made a strong debut with two teams taking first place in the 4×100, with a time of 52.63 seconds, and in the 4×400, where the team had a time of 4:25.13. Individually, Dana Christner, a senior, who ran a 2:32.28 time, earned the 800 meters...
March 28, 2012
Large number of awards at Small Invite
Despite a five-week hiatus, the track teams scored 33 top-ten finishes Saturday at the Dick Small Invitational in Defiance, Ohio. Two of Goshen’s first-place finishes came in long-distance events. Karla Folker, a junior, won the women’s 5,000 meters in 20:55.93. Smeltzer, a first-year, took top honors in the men’s 10,000, finishing in 34:14.6. Folker was followed by a pair of sophomores, Alli Beitler and Jenica Corbett, who finished third and fourth. Andrew Witkowski, a sophomore, and Alex Rodriguez, a first-year, rounded out a Maple Leaf sweep of the top three 10K spots. The men picked up another sweep of the...
November 17, 2010
Track and Field athletes off to early start
While many runners enjoy taking a break after their season is over, a handful of runners from the Goshen cross-country teams chose to extend their season, and race distance, this past Saturday. In all there were 13 runners and three coaches that participated in the half and full marathon distances at the second annual Veterans Marathon in Columbia City, Ind. While it is still the middle of November and four months before the first outdoor track meet, Goshen has already booked three tickets to the 2011 outdoor national track and field meet. Sophomore Jake GunderKline, freshmen Alli Bietler and Andrew Witkowski...