Track team dominates at quad meet

THE HUDDLE— Hope’s women 3k runners huddle up before the race, praying for strength and courage. (Rebecca Duran)

Hope College track and field took the win at a quad meet hosted by Aquinas College. Hope’s athletes beat out Aquinas, Spring Arbor and Alma. There were several first place and runner-up finishers, along with stand-out field event performances.

For the women, top performances were seen by senior Alexis Gutilla who took first in the mile and 800 meters, senior Rachael Satkiewicz in the 400 meters, junior Emily Hamilton in the 3000 meters, junior Amanda Bentley and senior Ashley Warner in the 1000 meters, senior Rachael Webb in the 600 meters, junior Avery Lowe in the mile, sophomore Chelsea Miskelley in the 800 meters and senior Haley Fischman in the shot put. The women’s 4×400 meter relay team also competed well with a second-place finish run by freshman Nicole Kruithof,  Webb, sophomore Hailey Pickelheimer, and Satkiewicz.

The men’s team had top performances by seniors Benjamin Pederson and Jacob Jansen in the 3000 meters, sophomore Joey Dawson in the mile, junior Justin Freeman and freshman Emmanuel Harinda in the 60-meter dash, senior Brandon Wolliston in the 400 meters, sophomore Brenden Jones and freshman Zackary Murphy in the 800 meters, senior William Henkel in high jump and juniors Tucker Gibbons and Louis Kopp in the triple jump. The meet ended with an exciting 4×400 run by freshman Terrell Solberg, Wolliston, Murphy and Jones. The relay team took second with impressive performances by all athletes participating in their second or third events of the night.

On the field side of things, Chase Gaca (‘19) and Addyson Gerig (‘20) were selected as the MIAA Men’s and Women’s Field Athletes of the Week for  the week of Jan. 15-21. Gaca’s weight throw surpassed the school record with a toss of 15.04 meters. Gerig was first in the triple jump at 9.98 meters.

Both teams looked strong throughout the meet, and scored points where it mattered. Athletes commented on the current standings of the teams: Jones said, “It was surprising to see that we won the meet. I think  all of the guys are in a solid spot, but have room for improvement. We didn’t have our best races on Friday, but everyone was tough and stayed positive through the whole meet”; Lowe said, “I think that it’s a solid start, but we have a lot of work to do if we want to do well at the conference meet”.