TRACK & FIELD

The HU women’s indoor track and field team made history Saturday afternoon at Dakota State University’s Sanford Jackrabbit Athlete Complex by clinching their first-ever NAIA National Indoor Championship title with 77 team points. Not only is it the program’s first national title, it also proves the first NAIA national title of any HU athletic team.

“This was a HUGE meet for our track and field program but even more so for Huntington University and the city of Huntington,” said Coach Joel Childs. “Our achievements today represent how much our school and community have invested in us and I am very thankful for it!”

It’s safe to say that Huntington’s mid-distance runners are the best in the nation, and they have the banner to show for it. The Huntington championship team was made up of just eight Foresters, all of which are best known for their mid-distance abilities.

Senior Aspen Dirr headlined the three-day event by claiming two individual titles, running a leg of two winning relay teams and posting a runner-up finish. Most impressive about her gritty performance was, apart from a relay, achieving all that she did within a four-hour span today. To no one’s surprise, Dirr was tabbed the Athlete of the Meet as voted on by the coaches and earned the Most Valuable Performer which is awarded to the athlete who scores the most points in the meet. She finished the weekend with 33 points.

Dirr teamed up with Hannah Stoffel, Mara McFarland and Molly Mitchell on Friday to blow away the competition in the 4×800 with a winning time of 9:06.20 for their team’s first national title. She would then go on to win the mile in 4:53.72 on Saturday. Less than two hours later she again found herself on top of the podium as the national champion of the 1,000 (2:50.10) and not long after she took second in the 5,000 by clocking in at 17:12.59.

Dirr had about a 15-minute break before toeing the line for the all-important DMR. The Foresters needed to finish at least fourth to win the national team title outright. She along with Stoffel, McFarland and Mitchell, the same foursome that won the 4×800, teamed up to make sure they left the stadium with the banner by easily winning the DMR in 11:46.71, over nine seconds faster than their nearest competitor.

Stoffel’s performance over the weekend was also one for the ages. In addition to running a leg of the two winning relay teams mentioned above, the junior transfer was the national champ in the 800 (2:08.98) and finished second and third respectively in the mile (4:55.21) and 600 (1:32.09).

When all the dust settled, the Dirr/Stoffel duo combined for 62 of HU’s 77 points. Mitchell picked up key points for the Foresters by outrunning her #8 seeding in the mile to take fourth in 4:57.18. Others members of Childs’ crew to compete on the big stage included Saige Norris toeing the line in the 3,000 prelims where she finished 16th in 10:27.00. McFarland ran a PR 2:59.32 in the 1K but came up one spot short of making it to the finals with a ninth-place finish in the prelims.

While Olivia Von Gunten, Jessica Chojnacki and Jordan Adam never stood on the podium over the weekend, their contributions were just as crucial and for their efforts are also regarded as national champs. In the prelims, Von Gunten ran a leg in both relays while Chojnacki ran in the 4×800 and Adam sprinted the 400 leg of the DMR.

“The success we had today represents how much the athletes and our coaching staff have bought in to what we’re trying to build here, because this is the culmination of work that began over a year again,” noted Childs.

Childs was named the National Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year.

On the men’s side, the Foresters racked up eight All-American badges in the two relays they ran in. The 4×800 made up of Elijah Chesterman, Adrien Gentie, Josiah Sovine and Aaron Hendryx ran to a sixth place finish in 7:43.35. The DMR, seeded fifth, finished accordingly by clocking in at 10:13.11. Chesterman and Gentie double-dipped as part of both relays with Peyton Depriest and Haile Stutzman joining them in the DMR. Kent Yoder was the lone Forester to run an individual race for the men. His PR time of 15:18.85 in the 5000 landed him an 18th place finish.