Adam Kelly | Echo
Taylor track and field had a historic weekend at Purdue University this Saturday with another handful of national qualifiers.
"We knew going into Purdue we were going to face great competition," said women's head coach Quinn White. "We looked at this as an opportunity to be pushed and be pushed harder than we have been so far. We held our own and did well."
The women's team had four national qualifiers and two school records broken by the time the day was over. Junior Elaine Schmeltz destroyed the school record for the mile by more than five seconds with a final time of 5:07.08. The previous record was set in 2006 by Lolly York. Schmeltz was one of three women to meet the A-standard for national qualifying. Sophomore Katie DeHaan also broke the school record in the 600 meter finishing with a time of 1:39.81 and gaining a fifth place finish. That previous record was set in 2010 by Morgan Achteroff.
"I didn't know that I had broken the school record until we were about halfway back to school and coach came and shook my hand on the bus," DeHaan said. "It was just a great finish to the day!"
Another A-standard qualifier was freshman Hannah Shroder who took second in the 5,000 meter and qualified with a final time of 18:18.67. Freshman Anna Meyer rocked the 3,000 meter with a time of 10:27.34 as the fourth Trojan to win A-standard qualifying. The B-standard qualifying was set by junior Allison Steinbeck, racing into fourth place in the 5,000 meter with a time of 18:34.32.
For the men's team, junior Jared Reed qualified B-standard in the 800 meter with a time of 1:57.04 while senior Luke Currens hurdled to a time of 8.35 in the 60 meter hurdles, logging a seventh place finish. Sophomore Josh Vahle paced himself to a seventh place finish in the 3000 meter finishing with a time of 9:16.60.
Sophomore David Rodman finished fourth in the 600 meter at 1:25.33 and freshman Matt Hall placed eighth in the 5,000 meter with a time of 15:23.49. Junior Gage Minniear took fifth in the long jump with a 1.88 meter best and in triple jump landed at 12.08 meters in eighth place.
The men's 4x4 relay finished with a time of 3:30.26.
"We had to throw David Rodman in at the last minute as lead off and he ran very well," Reed said. "I anchored and was pleased with the way that the other three ran in order to set up a good time considering the circumstances."
Another highlight to the weekend for Taylor track and field was the announcement regarding Lori Shepard. One of the two women in the Taylor Athletic Hall of Fame, Shepard was named the head coach of the USA women's indoor track and field team heading to the Indoor Track and Field World Championships in March of this year. Shepard was a NAIA All-American five times and a national champion in the high jump. She coached at Eastern Michigan, Vanderbilt and USA international teams on various occasions.
The Trojans finish the indoor track season at the Depauw Classic tomorrow and then prepare for the NAIA Indoor National Championships on Mar. 6 in Geneva, Ohio.
Photography by Josh Adams
