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Indianapolis, IN — The Goshen College women’s track and field team battled both the elements and small-college track squads from around the state at this weekend’s Little State Championships, notching a fifth-place team finish — the best result in Goshen’s storied program history.
One of the oldest collegiate track meets in the nation, the 102nd annual Little State Championships boasted a total 18 in-state programs from NCAA Division II, III and NAIA levels, with Goshen’s 56 team points equaling a tie for fifth, the Leafs’ best result since the field expanded to more than 15 teams.
A cool, yet sunny day Friday turned drastically worse Saturday, however, as temperatures bottomed out and sleet began to fall at the Indiana-University Purdue-University of Indianapolis Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium. By the day’s end, meet officials were forced to cancel the last event on Saturday, as the men’s hammer throw did not take place.
Winter-like conditions did not deter the Leafs’ drive to put forth its best Little State effort in program history, however, as Goshen head coach Rick Clark witnessed a pair of first-place performances from senior Petrana Petkova and sophomore Abri Houser. The squad’s fifth-place finish bettered last season’s eighth-place mark (click here for related article), the program’s previous top Little State finish.
“This is always a fun meet for us, even with the weather on Saturday,” Clark said. “Our women’s team did a very good job of disregarding the conditions with some outstanding performances. Not only did we have two event winners, but we had a number of other top-notch efforts that either broke school records or hit national qualifying marks. This meet always provides a good barometer of just how you stack up against like-programs. We felt very good about the way we performed this weekend.”
It was Petkova and Houser that led the scoring push for Clark’s squad, as Petkova crossed the finish line first in the 10,000-meter run while Houser did the same in the 100-meter hurdles. Petkova used a late push to finish in a time of 36:43.93, hitting the NAIA National qualifying mark and beating archrival Lolly York of Taylor University by just under two seconds. Classmate Laura Herr also hit the NAIA qualifying mark in finishing fifth, crossing the line in a time of 37:51.57.
“Petrana won the 10,000 in one of the most competitive races of the entire meet,” Clark said. “She broke away from three other runners in the last 400 meters to win the event in a national qualifying time. Laura Herr also had a stellar performance in that race. Finishing fifth in a meet of this stature and hitting the national qualifying mark were really positive things to see.”
Houser, meanwhile, broke her own school record in her top, 100-meter hurdles finish, claiming the blue ribbon in a time of :15.14, bettering her previous best of :15.23 set last year. Houser also qualified for NAIA National competition with the clip. She later added a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (1:06.21) and joined classmate Laura Harnish and freshmen Whitney Tuner and Rachael Baker in finishing seventh in the 4 X 400 relay (4:25.21).
“Abri looked really good in both hurdles events, and helped our relay team score some points on the track,” Clark said.
Goshen received outstanding efforts from other members of that relay team in other events as well, as Harnish set a new school record in the 800-meter run, finishing second overall in a time of 2:18.15, narrowly edging out her previous school mark of 2:18.99 set last year. Turner took a sixth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:59.07, with Harnish right behind in a 4:59.51 clip.
On the field side, it was sophomore Deanna Kronk that did major damage, finishing third in the discus (129 feet, 11 inches), fifth in the hammer throw (131 feet, 8 inches) and sixth in the shot put (38 feet, 4 and ¼ inches). Kronk’s distance in the discus broke a six-year old program record, as she erased 2002 graduate Ann Christenson’s 129 feet, 5 inch mark by six inches.
“Laura Harnish displayed her talent with a runner-up finish and personal best finish in the 800 while also earning points in the 1,500 where she was nipped by teammate Whitney Turner,” Clark said. “Whitney had an outstanding finishing kick to finish sixth in that event. Deanna was awesome in the field events, scoring in all three events while breaking a very good school record held by Ann Christenson.”
Goshen’s 56 points tied the team with Mid-Central Conference rival Bethel College for fifth place, while host institution University of Indianapolis won the team title with 235 points, Indianapolis’ 15th straight Little State team championship. Only Indiana Wesleyan University — second place, 85 points — finished above Goshen among MCC competitors.
For a complete list of team and individual finishes and results, click here.
Goshen will return to the track next Saturday, when the team will travel to Manchester College for the Spartan Invite.
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Sophomore Abri Houser 