Track and Field Concludes NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships

BROOKINGS, SD. – The national qualifiers for the Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's and women's track and field teams competed at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships on February 29-March 2, hosted by South Dakota State University.

The men placed 29th of 63 teams with 10 points.

MVNU saw two All-American Performances from Evan Hodkinson and Tyler Shipley on Saturday. Hodkinson finished as the national runner-up in the 1000m run. The junior from Dalton, Ohio finished with a time of 2:25.30 in the finals.

Shipley placed seventh overall in pole vault with a vault of 4.85m. The sophomore is the first pole vaulter in school history to become an All-American.

Lyssi Snouffer competed in the high jump finals and placed 14th overall with a jump of 1.60m. Micah Tuggle also competed on the meet's final day in shot put and placed 23rd overall with a throw of 15.39m. Tuggle also competed the previous day in the weight throw and placed 25th with a throw of 16.33m.

Haldeman finished the Heptathlon on Friday, March 1 and placed 14th overall with 3958 points. Connor Williams ran in the 60m hurdle prelims and placed 25th with a time of 8.37 seconds.

Brooke Holloway took on the pole vault finals on March 1 and placed 19th with a vault of 3.57m.

The men's 4x400 of Seth McCloskey, Liam Near, Marcus Whaley and Jaden Haldeman placed 13th in prelims with a time of 3;16.65. The 4x800 relay of Hodkinson, Isaac Ramseyer, Jordon Reesman, and Mason Hendrickson finished in 12th at prelims with a time of 7:47.68.

Coach Gallion's Thoughts:

"Nationals week, we came into this weekend with a mindset to compete at our highest level, leave it all on the track and field, grow closer as a team, and most importantly continue to strive to grow in our relationship with Christ. As a coach, I could not be more proud of how these young men and women personified all of those qualities this week. I saw a group that aimed to serve each other as well as their competitors. I saw a group that looked to represent MVNU and Christ in the highest manner over and over. I am blessed to coach this group. For field, Brooke gave us beautiful energy on Friday night and vaulted with grace and determination. Our other female competitor, Lyssi, gave it all she had in high jump on Saturday and showed the grace and joy she always does on the field. From our men's field crew, Micah showed a lot of growth from taking on two events this week with weight throw and then followed that up with a gallant effort in shot put. He is our first indoor throws athlete to take on two events at nationals. Jaden also showed some incredible courage and toughness this week as he fought hard in the Heptathlon and was in position to do something incredible but was sadly sidelined by injury. Proud of how he competed and never quit. To round out our field event performers, Tyler provided an exceptional performance in pole vault to walk away with his first All-American honor. Tyler is a gamer and showed a lot of poise and championship pedigree in handling the big stage for the first time and walking away with hardware. Absolutely special to behold. On the track, our relays started the weekend off for us. The 4x8 crew of Jordan, Isaac, Mason, and Evan ran a strong race and battled through the line but came up just a bit short. It was a similar story line for the 4x4 crew of Seth, Liam, Marcus, and Jaden. These gentlemen ran their hearts out but sometimes you must tip your hat to the competition and strive to come back stronger next season. From our individuals, we saw Connor come out and show us a strong effort in the 60 hurdles. He has been one of my hardest workers and it was a blessing to see him compete at this stage. To finish out our weekend, we saw Evan complete a historic run in the 1000, he was ninth in this event last year and came into this meet with a lot of composure and determination and it paid off. He raced and did what few have from MVNU, pulling off a national runner up finish in an event. He ran beautifully and it was a joy to behold. I'm blessed to have the athletes and people that I do in this program, and I'm excited to see us continue to grow as a team together and in Christ. It was a great indoor season."

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, four-year, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional age students, graduate students, and working adults. With a 327-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth, and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education both in-seat and online to nearly 2,000 students from 25 states and 11 foreign countries.