Fresno, CA — Taking the most athletes — five — since 2003 to this weekend’s 2006 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, Goshen head coach Rick Clark had high hopes for his squad’s potential.

The best finish in program history surely satisfied his desires.

Juniors Petrana Petkova and Laura Herr helped the Goshen College women’s track and field program to its top NAIA national championship finish in school history, each claiming All-American honors to help Goshen to a 12th-place finish overall. The end result was the Leafs’ highest team placement and most points ever recorded in a national championship event (19) — for either a men’s or women’s team — with three All-American honors equaling the program’s best output at any national championship meet. Petkova led that charge, finishing second in both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter run, while Herr’s sixth-place result in the marathon was her first All-American honor. The weekend’s finishes bolstered Clark’s already impressive resume, giving the 12th-year head coach a total 18 All-American performances and 97 NAIA national championship events coached during his tenure.

“We had a very positive experience with our women’s team scoring the most points (19) and having the highest overall finish (12th) in the history of Maple Leaf track and field,” Clark said. “Our successes on the track made an already enjoyable weekend even better, as central California was a wonderful site for this year’s championships.”

Hosted at Fresno Pacific University, Goshen’s five athletes — freshman Abri Houser joined Petkova and Herr on the women’s side with junior Jason Young and sophomore Jake Gillette representing the men’s squad — arrived in Fresno Tuesday night and returned to Goshen Sunday evening. That backdrop set the stage for the latest chapter of Petkova’s brilliant career, as Goshen’s most decorated track and field athlete continued to add to her legacy. After running a school-record time of 36:06.19 in the 10,000-meter race Thursday night, Petkova turned around and posted an 18:06.09 clip in the 5,000-meter prelims Friday night. That mark qualified her for Saturday afternoon’s final heat, and Petkova made the most of the opportunity: Her 17:27.36 clip shattered her old school mark of 17:38.20 in the event, as the junior finished second behind Betty Rotich of Missouri Baptist University in both final races. The All-American honors were Petkova’s 10th and 11th of her incredible career, breaking down as three in cross country, three in indoor track and a remarkable five in outdoor track.

“Petrana Petkova had an outstanding three days of running with her runner-up finishes in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs,” Clark said. “Using similar tactics in both races, she ran in the group behind the eventual winner of the 5k and 10k, and stayed patient until unleashing an impressive kick in the last 250 meters which caught the attention of the entire crowd. She earned All-American honors for the third straight outdoor championships and moved up from last year where she finished third in the 10k but failed to place in the 5k (click here for article). Both of her times this weekend were school records, and both races were impressive to watch.”

Petkova’s second-place performances also equaled the highest individual finishes in Goshen College Track & Field history since John Karanja’s back-to-back national championships in the 400-meter dash in 2002 and 2003. Since Karanja’s titles, only 2005 graduate Justin Gillette was able to place as high as second, which he did in the marathon at the 2004 NAIA championships.

It was Herr who became the latest Goshen athlete to achieve All-American honors in the marathon this weekend, notching sixth place in a time of 3:06.24 early Saturday morning. Herr’s finish backed up her pre-race national ranking (sixth) as the rapidly-improving junior knocked 20 minutes off her personal best marathon time — an event she had only competed in once previously.

“Laura Herr also had an outstanding performance in her first national championship event by finishing sixth in the marathon,” Clark said. “She steadily moved up from the top 15 where she started, running eighth after the midway mark and then pressing over the last six miles to finish in the final All-American position of the event. It was a very satisfying effort for Laura who has made tremendous improvements over the past year. She has made the jump from being an average runner to a front-pack competitor through a lot of hard work and miles.”

Consistently right behind Petkova as Goshen’s second-best cross country runner this fall, Herr joined Jake Gillette (click here for article) in running the 26.2 mile race at 6 a.m. Saturday morning (Pacific Standard Time). Clark gave compliments to track distance and head cross country coach Doug Yoder for his work with both Herr and Gillette in prepping them for this weekend’s event.

“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 the track during the season.”

With Herr and Petkova grabbing much of the California spotlight, perhaps Goshen’s most promising athlete — Houser — put together a solid first-time outdoor nationals appearance as well. Goshen’s first freshman to qualify for an NAIA outdoor national championship individual event since Karanja in 2002, Houser finished 15th in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of :15.47 and 21st overall in the 400-meter hurdles event in a clip of 1:06.91. While those marks were slightly off her school-record times of :15.30 and 1:05.76, Houser still qualified for both indoor and outdoor nationals in her first collegiate season while being part of a total seven school records this year.

“Abri gained some valuable experience with her effort in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles in Fresno,” Clark said. “She will be able to draw from that in the future, and we feel she will only continue to get better over the course of the next three years.”

Missouri Baptist University captured the overall 2006 NAIA National Championship, garnering 126 total points. Nickesha Anderson of Missouri Baptist was named the Most Outstanding Female Performer at the event, winning the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. 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.