MAY 19 — Maple Leafs Sending Eight To NAIA Nationals

Five women set to continue run of success for Goshen track and field

GOSHEN, Ind. – Continuing the recent success on a national stage, the Goshen College track and field team will send eight athletes – five women and three men – to this weeks National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Outdoor National Track and Field Championships held in St. Louis.

Coming off a historic 2007 championships which saw the women’s team finish eighth – the Lady Leafs have finished 8th, 11th, 12th, and 15th in the last four outdoor championships – Goshen sends a healthy balance of first-time national championship participants and returning veterans.

Defending outdoor and indoor NAIA national champion Tina Peters (So., Yellow Spring, Ohio) looks for her fourth title in as many tries after qualifying with a time of 15:09.90.  For the first time in her tenure, Peters will be joined by a teammate as Laura Stoesz (Jr., Indianapolis) qualified with a time of 18:11.00.

After narrowly missing out on All American honors in 2007, Deanna Kronk (Jr.,  Elkhart) returns to compete in both the hammer throw (46.68 meter qualifying mark) and shot put (12.59 meters). 

Also no stranger to the national stage, Abri Houser is set to compete in her fifth national appearance, including second outdoors.  Houser set new school and track records in both the 100-meter hurdles (14.81 seconds) and 400-meter hurdles (1:04.43) at the Mid-Central Conference championships and is in search of her first All American honors.

Joining Stoesz as a first-time national participant on the women’s side is senior Katie Sowers (Hesston, Kans.).  After focusing on basketball for much of her collegiate career, Sowers has come on strong in the javelin.  After breaking a thirty-year-old record in her initial meet, Sowers won the MCC Championship by shattering her own record and qualifying for this week’s championships with a mark of 129-feet, 2-inches.

On the men’s side, Jake Gillette (Sr., Niles, Mich.) is the lone experienced Maple Leaf as he looks to improve on the nineteenth-place finish in the marathon at the 2007 championships.

After being a leader on the Maple Leaf squad throughout his career, Justin Hochstetler (Sr., Orrville, Ohio) got the breakthrough he had been looking for.  With a throw of 153’6”, the first-time national championship participant shattered his older brother’s record in the discus at the MCC Championships to earn his way to St. Louis.

Rounding out the Maple Leaf squad is junior Kyle Laker (Wayland, Mich).  It took just two meets for the 6’8” Laker – who plays center on Goshen’s basketball team – to book his trip to St. Louis.  The junior won the Goshen Invitational after clearing 6’6”.

The team will load up Tuesday afternoon to start the drive to the St. Louis area, giving them a day for practice before the meet begins on Thursday.  For more information on the championships please visit www.naia.org.