Men's Track and Field Sets Two School Records, Wins Five Events at Wheaton Invite

The Hope College men's track and field team won five events and set two school records on Saturday at the Wheaton College Invitational.

The Flying Dutchmen sprinted away with new top marks in the 4x100 relay and the 200-meter run.

In the 4x100, junior Nolan Sanders (Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow HS), sophomore Dylan Terpstra (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hudsonville), senior Alex Daniels (Holland, Michigan / Holland) and junior Liam Danitz (West Branch, Michigan / Ogemaw Heights) clocked a school-record, first-place time of 41.27 seconds.

The relay topped the 2024 record of 41.32 set by Sanders, Nathan Woolum, Daniels and Liam Danitz. It's the 16th-fastest time this NCAA Division III outdoor season.

In the 200, Danitz surpassed his previous Hope record of 21.10 seconds with a winning sprint of 20.94.

Danitz topped a field of 71 with the second-fastest time in the nation this season, 0.01 behind Illinois College's Dylan Doss.

An exercise science major, Danitz also raced to a winning 100-meter run of 10.77 seconds in a field 63. Daniels was seventh at 11.03.

Danitz also anchored the first-place 4x400 relay. Terpstra, Daniels, freshman Gavin Bush (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan / Birmingham Seaholm) posted a season-best time of 3:16.54 that is 22nd fastest in Division III this outdoor season.

Hope went 1-2 in a 93-runner, 1,500 field.

Junior Ian Petruska (Fort Collins, Colorado / Fort Collins) clocked a winning run of 3:53.49, ranking him 28th in the nation. Senior Connor Vachon (Jenison, Michigan / Jenison) finished runner-up at 3:54.05.

The Flying Dutchmen put four more runners in the Top 10:

4. Elias Kretchmar (Granville, Ohio / Granville) at 3:55.42;
6. Tyler King (Villa Park, Illinois / Willowbrook) at 3:56.28;
7. Carston Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) at 3:57.63;
8. Logan Begeman (Portage, Michigan / Portage Central) at 3:57.78.

In the 400, Terpstra placed runner-up at 48.72 seconds. Bush took third at 49.41. Senior Joshua Ennen (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland West) was sixth at 50.27.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, senior Jonathan Harlow (Holland, Michigan / Home School) recorded a third-place run of 9:32.02.

In the hammer throw, freshman Jake Punches (Farwell, Michigan / Clare) finished third with a toss of 36.33 meters (119 feet, 2 inches). Freshman Will Dubay (Omaha, Nebraska / Millard West) was eighth at 24.14 meters (79-2).

In the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Logan Lipka (Frankenmuth, Michigan / Frankenmuth) clocked a third-place finish of 56.81 seconds. Senior Samuel Miller (Zionsville, Indiana / Zionsville) placed seventh at 58.65. Ennen was eighth at 59.34.

In the high jump, freshman Gavin Schosso (Kalamazoo, Michigan / Plainwell) cleared 1.89 meters (6-2) and placed fourth.

In the 800, Hope clocked six of the fastest 10 runs in a field of 57:

4. Lucas Guidone (Chicago, Illinois / Taft) at 1:54.67;
5. Erickson Kunzler (Marne, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central) at 1:54.92;
7. Kevin Barifagok (Las Vegas, Nevada / Cristo Rey Saint Viator) at 1:55.61;
8. Carter Dean (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West) at 1:57.44;
9. Begeman at 1:58.05;
10. Tim Peterson (Portage, Michigan / Portage Northern) at 1:58.07.

In the hurdles, Lipka finished sixth at 15.78 seconds.

In the discus, Punches took sixth at 41.02 meters (134-07).

In the javelin, junior Wil Pinkerton (Ann Arbor, Michigan / Pioneer) placed seventh at 50.29 meters (165-0).

Hope's next meet is Friday-Saturday, April 18-19 at the Grand Valley State University Al Owens Classic.

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