Drake is for Distance – Relays make huge moves in final GPAC tune-up

DES MOINES, IOWA – The Big Blue Oval along University Avenue tends to see remarkable displays of athletic achievement in the fourth month of the year. 

Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29, head coach Dave Nash's Morningside University men's and women's representatives at the American Athletic Classic added their efforts to that ever-growing list. At the top of the charts were the men's and women's 4x800 meter relays.

On the women's side, the quartet of seniors Tenna Beel (Stanton, Neb.), Jo McKibben (Mapleton, Iowa), and Emalee Fundermann (Anthon, Iowa), and sophomore Emily Chicoine (Primghar, Iowa) clocked 9:24.51, good for a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' B qualifying mark for the 2022 national championships and the third-quickest time in the conference. It placed them seventh.

For the men, the senior grouping of Camden Beller (Sioux City, Iowa), Ro Paschal (Mancos, Colo.), Tyler Carney (Ames, Iowa), and Zach Ambrose (Dunlap, Iowa) hit the finish line in 7:48.11. It's the second-quickest time in the league, trailing only Dordt, who ran a 7:37.1 in the same field. Morningside's time left them 12^th of 17.

Two more headlines made up the weekend storyline. The women's sprint medley unit of senior Betsy Ridout (Ankeny, Iowa), junior Callie Yeakel (Rock Rapids, Iowa), Chicoine, and Fundermann ran a 4:10.16, good for a top-eight slot (7^th). The distance medley relay team, made up of the same four on the 4x800 squad, ended in 12:38.75, also a seventh-place finish.

The Mustangs aim for individual, and team honors at the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference meet Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6. The host venue is Doane University's Al Papik Field and Lauritsen Outdoor Track in Crete, Neb.