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TOLEDO, Ohio – A few members of the Goshen College men’s and women’s track and field team headed to the Toledo Invitational on Friday as a tune up for the upcoming NAIA Outdoor Nationals.
The eight members of the Maple Leaf squad have qualified for the NAIA National Championships to be held in St. Louis, May 22-24 are junior Abri Houser (100 and 400 hurdles), junior Deanna Kronk (hammer throw), senior Katie Sowers (javelin), sophomore Tina Peters (3K race walk), junior Laura Stoesz (3K race walk), Justin Hochstetler (disucs), Kyle Laker (high jump), and Jake Gilette (half marathon).
With the spring semester complete and May term in full swing, the Leafs took just eight athletes to the non-team scored Toledo Invite, which primarily featured athletes from NCAA Division I.
Coming off a record-setting performance at the Mid-Central Conference Championships (click here for related article), senior Katie Sowers had her second-best throw of the season in the javelin (119’1”) to finish in second place.
Meanwhile, Deanna Kronk used the event to increase her season-best as she took third in the hammer throw with a mark of 153’2”. Kronk also competed in the discus where her best throw was 118-feet even.
Also competed in both the hammer and discuss were freshman Cassie Greives and Krista Nussbaum and sophomore Jessica Steil. Greives had throws of 124’ (hammer) and 111’3” (discuss), Nussbaum’s marks were 119’2” (hammer) and 80’1” (discuss), and Steil threw 104-feet in the hammer and 78’6” in the discus.
The only competitor on the track – men’s or women’s – was junior Laura Harnish. Harnish came in with a time of 19:30.98 in the 5000 meters.
On the men’s side, seniors Justin and Jeff Hochstetler had very strong efforts in the hammer throw. Justin finished third with a throw of 149’7”, while Jeff finished close behind in seventh with a mark of 140’8”. Preparing for nationals, Justin later took eighth in the discus (140’9”).
The Maple Leafs have one final tune up for NAIA Nationals when they travel to the Cedarville Challenge (Ohio) on May 9.
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