Bethel College Track

NAIA National Track & Field Championships Results

Bethel College had two athletes compete on day one of the NAIA National Track & Field Championships at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. David Daugharthy, senior from Iola, and Garrett Hiebert, junior from Goessel, competed in the javelin competition.

Hiebert finished 7th with a best throw of 61.13m (200-07), just outside of earning All-American honors for a third year in a row, and Daugharthy placed 18th with a best throw of 52.40m (171-11).

Dakota Sorensen, senior from Crestone, Colo., will compete in the discus throw, which is set to begin at 5 p.m. on Friday. This is the second year in a row that Sorensen has competed in the discus throw at the national meet.

On Saturday, Dorothy Voth, sophomore from Hesston, will compete in the women's discus throw. This is Voth's first appearance at the national meet. She broke the school record in discus twice this year. Her competition will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Read more of the NAIA National Track & Field Championships results.

Season Preview

The men’s and women’s track teams will try to build on their success in the 2009 season, which saw the men place second and the women fourth at the KCAC Championships, and nine athletes qualify to compete at the NAIA National Track and Field Championships.

The women’s team will look to returners to set the pace for the rest of the team. Natasha Esau, senior from Hutchinson, will be the featured distance runner. Esau was an All-KCAC performer at the 5,000m distance last year.

Returning in field events are sophomores Kristen Lohaus, Noble, Okla., Alyssa Schrag, Moundridge, Melissa Volk, Newton, and Dorothy Voth, Hesston. At the KCAC Championships, Lohaus finished fourth in the discus despite a mid-season back injury; Schrag was third in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump and ran on the 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams that placed second and third, respectively; Volk came on strong in the pole vault, taking eighth, as well as helping the 4x100 relay team to a fifth-place finish; and Voth took third in the discus and placed in the top 10 in both shot put and javelin. She is the school record holder in women’s discus.

In the sprints, Jordyn Blanson, sophomore from Oklahoma City, looks to improve her second-place finish in the 100m hurdles. She will also run the anchor leg of the 4x100m. The middle distance (800m and 1500m) leader should be Jackie Kamphaus, sophomore from Clay Center, an outstanding runner poised to break into the top 5 performers in the conference. She will be joined in the 800 and 4x800 by Kara Gerber, freshman from Conway Springs. Twins Brittany and Brandi Moral, sophomores from Ulysses, should round out the field of returners with their customary strong performances in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

Despite losing a couple of key seniors to graduation, the men’s team returns a solid group in both field and running events. Top returners include KCAC Athlete of the Meet Andrew McNary, sophomore from Potwin, who placed first in the 400m hurdles and second in the 110m high hurdles and was on the 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams that placed first and third, respectively. Also returning in running events will be Darin Derstein, senior from Ford, who was a member of the 4x1 and 4x4 relay teams as well as placing fourth and sixth in the 200m and 400m. Twins David and Jessie Mueller, seniors from Halstead, are expected to continue their solid performances in the 400m and 400m hurdles.

In the field events, 2009 NAIA National Track and Field qualifiers David Daugharthy (javelin), senior from Iola, Garrett Hiebert (javelin), junior from Goessel, and Dakota Sorenson (discus), senior from Crestone, Colo., all hope to make a return trip. Hiebert placed fourth at the National Championships in 2009 to earn All-American honors for the second year in a row. Also returning in the throwing events are hammer specialists Ben Santos, senior from Smithville, Mo., and Caleb Stephens, junior from Lawrence. Finally, Ben Histand, senior from North Newton and a transfer from Oklahoma State University, should bring a level of talent to the distance events that will make a huge impact on the conference – he is definitely one to watch.