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Fresno, CA — Helping to comprise the largest group of Goshen College
athletes to qualify and compete at an NAIA national championship
meet since the 2003 season, junior Jason Young and sophomore
Jake Gillette joined
female counterparts Petrana Petkova and Laura Herr (juniors)
and Abri Houser (freshman) in traveling to Fresno, California
for the 2006 NAIA Outdoor
Track & Field National Championships this weekend. And while the women
grabbed most of the headlines with three All-American performances
and the highest team
finish in school history (click here for article),
Young and Gillette represented the program well in competing
in the 400-meter dash and marathon, respectively.
“This was the first time for either Jason or Jake to compete
in an outdoor national championship, and both handled it very
well,” said
Rick Clark, Goshen head coach. “While we had a very positive experience
with our women’s team scoring the most points and having the highest
finish in the history of Maple Leaf track and field, we also
were very proud of how Jason and Jake competed. They represented our program
very
well.”
It was, perhaps, a family thing for Gillette, who competed
in his first NAIA marathon Saturday morning at 6 a.m. (Pacific
Standard Time) at Fresno Pacific University, host of the 2006 national
championships.
Gillette placed 23rd overall in a time of 2:46.02, shedding
nearly three minutes off his personal best time in the process.
While falling short of his goal for his first All-American
honor, the comparisons to older brother and 2005 graduate Justin
Gillette were most notable to Clark during the event, as Jake
was looking to add to the
family legacy. With Justin holding the school record clip in
the marathon (2:29.14) and finishing as a three-time All-American
in the event (click
here for article), Jake competed well in his first outdoor
championship appearance according to Clark.
“Jake, although he didn’t place (in the top of the field) had
an excellent run in the marathon,” Clark said. “He dropped
nearly three minutes off his personal best time in the event, running a
very steady
and patient race.”
Gillette joined Herr in the marathon, as Herr’s time of 3:06.24 was
good for a sixth-place finish on the women’s side and her first All-American
honor.
“Goshen distance coach Doug Yoder has to be given a lot of credit
for developing a training and tactical program for both Laura
and Jake that helped them to be successful this year,” Clark said. “His
training program helped them to be ready for the marathon nationals
but also was very balanced so that they could contribute to the Maple Leaf
teams on track during the season.”
As Gillette put forth his best effort in the meet’s longest event,
Young tried his hand at one of the shorter ones, finishing
28th overall in the 400-meter dash. Young’s clip of :51.76 was far
from his best effort of the season — his :48.61 national qualifying
time at the Mid-Central Conference Championships was just off
the school-record pace
of :48.52 — a time that, had he duplicated, would have qualified
him for the final round of the event this weekend.
The national championships were Young’s first on the outdoor circuit
but second overall, as the junior competed in the 2006 NAIA Indoor Track & Field
Championships in March. At that meet, Young placed 24th overall with a
time of :50.57 (click here for article).
“Outdoors is a very different animal than indoors, and Jason
gained some valuable experience with his effort in Fresno that
he should be able to draw from in the future,” Clark said.
Goshen accumulated no team points despite Gillette’s and Young’s
performances, though the duo did help Clark to add to his
impressive total of athletes competing at national championships
— a total that now stands at 97 events in just 12 years at
the helm of the Goshen program. Combined with the All-American
performances of Petkova and Herr, Clark has now coached athletes
to 18 All-American
honors as well. Clark also served as a member
of the six-person NAIA Track & Field Coaches Association Outdoor Games
Committee over the weekend, assisting with meet management,
preparation and serving on the jury of appeals.
“It was a really fun time for our kids and central California
was a neat site for us to travel to,” Clark said. “With no
seniors making the trip for us, hopefully we can have all five
(athletes) back next year along with a few others.”
Dickison State University won the overall 2006 NAIA National
Championship with 102 total points. David Cheromei of Virginia
Intermont College won the Most Outstanding Male Performer award
by winning both the steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run. For
a complete list of individual and event-by-event results, click here.
Check back to this website for continual off-season information,
including recruiting updates and team news. To contact Rick Clark, call
him at (574) 535-7079 or click here to send him an email.
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Sophomore
Jake Gillette