Press Releases
07-22-05 Graceland Duo Riding for Good Cause
On Sunday, July 24, Graceland University head cross country and track Coach Kent Allshouse (’84) and his wife Sheri (Piepergerdes, ’88), who works in the Graceland admissions office, will begin a seven-day 515-mile bike ride across the state of Iowa to raise money for scholarships and equipment for the Graceland running programs. The couple will be gathering pledges per mile or flat amount pledges for the ride event with monies going to supplement the cross country and track equipment and scholarship budgets.“We have some of the best equipment in the conference, but it is time to update some of the pieces as well as add money to our depleted restricted scholarship fund,” said Allshouse. “Many students, and especially foreign students, come to Graceland with literally only the shirt on their back and are in great need of outside financial assistance to stay in school and pursue their dream of studying and competing as a Graceland Yellowjacket. Many such student-athletes have been multiple All-Americans, Olympic trial qualifiers and All-American scholar athletes.”
Coach Allshouse, who had hip replacement surgery last July, came up with the idea for the fundraiser while still in the hospital. “I have always been a runner and when the doctor told me I couldn’t run any more I thought of biking as an alternative,” said Allshouse. “I swore to my family, my team and to myself that the next summer I would ride across the state of Iowa. I figured this trip could not only serve as a source of needed additional funding, but as a conclusion of my physical rehabilitation. I hope that everyone will make a pledge.”
Kent and Sheri will begin their journey in Le Mars, Iowa, and finish on Saturday, July 30 along the banks of the Mississippi River in Guttenburg, Iowa. The couple will average 75 miles a day carrying all their gear on their bicycles and will camp along the way.
While Coach Allshouse said they will accept and be grateful for pledges of any amount for the event, he is hopeful that the majority of people will make a pledge of $.20 per mile or $100 dollars. Pledges will be accepted before, during and after the event. Please use this link allshous@graceland.edu to send an e-mail to Kent to submit your pledge for this great cause. Coach Allshouse thanks you in advance for your willingness to help.
06-01-05 King Honored As All-American Scholar-Athlete
Kendra King has been recognized as a 2005 Daktronics-NAIA Women’s Track & Field All-America Scholar-Athlete.King, from Attleboro, Mass., is studying communications and English at Graceland University. King participates on Graceland’s cross country team in the fall and track and field teams in the winter and spring.
Highlights of King’s season include a second place finish in the 600 meter run at the Graceland Invitational indoor meet, and third place in the same event in both the Hill Top Indoor Invitational and the Heart of America Athletic Conference indoor meet.
05-25-05 Track Stars Off to Nationals
The Graceland University track team is sending six Yellowjacket athletes to Louisville, Ky. on May 27-29 to take part in the 2005 Outdoor National Championship Meet.Leading the way for the Jackets will be Luke Keny who will compete in the 800 meter and the 4 X 800 meter relay. Keny qualified for nationals in the 800m at the Jim Duncan meet in Des Moines and the 4 X 800m team consisting of Keny along with Tyler Fonseca, Richard Fraijo and Karim Martin, qualified at the Drake Relays with a time of 7:42.28 which is a new Graceland University record.
Elisha Plaine and Amanda Sundell will also be traveling to Louisville as they will be representing the Graceland women’s team at the national meet. Plaine jumped a personal best in the triple jump at the Simpson College meet as she qualified for nationals with a 37’-4” effort. Sundell also had a personal best when she qualified at the HAAC championship with a pole vault of 11’-5¾”. Sundell also set a new school record and won the HAAC title with her vault.
The 2005 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships are held May 26-28 at Cardinal Park in Louisville, Ky.
05-09-05 Men’s Track Takes Third in Conference Meet
The 2005 Heart of America Athletic Conference track meet took place at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, May 6-7. The Graceland men’s team took third place and the women’s team placed eighth, but was just 23 points from placing third.The meet took place over a windy two days but the weather did not stop the Lions of Lindenwood from sweeping both the men’s and women’s competitions.
On the men’s side the Lions earned 274 total points and MidAmerica’s men equaled the women’s squad with a second place finish with 136 points. Host men’s team Graceland University took third at the HAAC meet with 111 total team points.
Lindenwood notched 250 points in the women’s division followed by MidAmerica Nazarene with 173 and William Jewell took third with a total of 80 points. Graceland finished the meet with 52 points in eighth place, just six points from sixth, and 23 points from third.
Graceland men’s track coach, Kent Allshouse, was honored as the HAAC Coach of the Year for men’s outdoor track.
The Heart of America Athletic Conference will be represented well as a large number of this weekend’s participants will be off to Louisville, Ky., in two weeks as they take part in the national championship meet May 27–29.
05-02-05 All-Conference Scholar-Athletes
The Heart of America Athletic Conference has recognized 32 Graceland University athletes as All-Conference Scholar-Athletes for 2004-05.The Yellowjacket softball, women’s track and football teams led the way with four scholars each, followed by the women’s volleyball, men’s track, men’s cross country and men’s soccer teams with three scholar-athletes apiece.
The following is a list of Graceland’s 2004-05 HAAC Scholar-Athletes:
Athlete -- GPA -- Sport -- Major
Jaclyn Keil -- 4.00 -- Cross Country/Track -- Elementary Education
Kendra King -- 3.77 -- Cross Country/Track -- Sociology
Thomas Nichols -- 3.93 -- Cross Country/Track -- Accounting
Mark Boswell -- 3.43 -- Cross Country/Track -- Biology/Chemistry
Jolyn Noble -- 3.77 -- Track -- Wellness Program Management
Allison Forth -- 3.55 -- Track -- Psychology
Baron Grutter -- 3.61 -- Track -- Mathematics
03-05-05 Six Yellowjackets Receive Honors at National Track Meet
The Graceland University men’s track program had six runners crowned All-Americans at the 2005 NAIA National Indoor Track & Field Championships held in Johnson City, Tenn. March 3-5.The Graceland track program continued its rich tradition of success and proved that they can run with the best in the nation at the national meet. The Yellowjacket’s 4x800m relay team made up of Tyler Fonseca (SR), Luke Keny (SO), Richard Fraijo (SO) and Karim Martin (FR) were the first to hit paydirt on Friday night when they demonstrated tremendous determination fighting several intense challenges to capture fifth place in the nation. The relay team which finished with a school record time of 7:50.22 quickly added four All-American plaques to the team’s resume.
The team’s winning ways continued on Saturday when sophomore sensation Luke Keny, despite being fatigued from running the 4x800m relay the night before, re-established his place among the nation’s best in the open 800m run finishing in sixth place with a time of 1:55.42. For the third time in as many tries, Keny has finished in the top six in the nation and claimed his fourth All-American crown in just his first year at Graceland.
Looking to join Keny as a 2005 double All-American was senior Tyler Fonseca who overcame exhaustion from running the 4x800m relay and out ran a tremendously talented field in the open 1000m run Saturday afternoon. In what Head Coach Kent Allshouse called one of the most impressive displays of determination he had ever seen, Fonseca dug down and found the strength to over take two runners with less than 20 meters to go to capture sixth place and his second All-American plaque of the meet. Fonseca set a new school record finishing in a time of 2:30.19.
While the All-Americans justifiably captured the most attention at the meet, the Graceland team had several other excellent performances. Junior Kendra King rose to the occasion and blasted a personal best time of 1:39.88 in the 600m. Junior pole vaulter Landon Burke tied his personal best when he cleared 14’-9”. Sophomore triple jumper Elisha Plaine caught air for 11.02 in her third trip to the national meet. Junior Carl Hayes, also making his third trip to nationals, ran the open 400m and timed out at 51.07. Other Graceland tracksters that competed and or qualified to compete at the national meet were: pole vaulters Amanda Sundell (JR), Lindsay Neal (SO), Jordie Currie (SO); Joe Morman (SR) qualified in the 55m dash and Ryan Birks (FR) qualified in the pole vault.
“I am extremely pleased with our over-all performance at nationals,” said Coach Allshouse. “It has been a long time since we brought home six All-Americans from one meet and the even better news is that with the exception of Tyler Fonseca, both teams are young and will most likely be battling at the national level for years to come.”
Photos
04-25-05 Landon Burke Wins Pole Vault at Dick Young Classic
Graceland’s Landon Burke vaulted 14’-6” to win the men’s pole vault at the 2005 Dick Young Classic in Grinnell, Iowa last weekend. The men’s track team placed tenth out of 17 teams at the meet hosted by Grinnell College.Tyler Fonseca placed third in the 800 meter run (1:58.75) for the second meet in a row. In the shot put, Adam Sparks threw 44’-7” for a fifth place finish for the Jackets. Richard Fraijo and Earl Arispe placed sixth and ninth, respectively, in the 400 meter dash with times of 52.57 and 53.05.
The men’s track team looks forward to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 28-30 and the Simpson College “Twilight Meet” on Friday, April 29 in Indianola, Iowa.
04-25-05 Amanda Sundell Vaults to Second Place at Dick Young Classic
Amanda Sundell vaulted 10’-6” to place second in the pole vault at the Dick Young Classic held at Grinnell College in Iowa. Sundell and the women’s track team took 12th overall at the meet.Jordie Currie followed Sundell with a seventh place (9’-6”) finish in the pole vault. Erica Barnett ran the 100 meter dash in 13.33 to place seventh. In the 400 meter dash, Kendra King ran a 63.3 and Jaclyn Kiel ran the 1500 meter run in 5:16.95, both for ninth place finishes. Beth Hooten rounds out the list of Graceland’s top ten finishers in the 5000 meter run, with a time of 20:05.77 to place tenth.
The women’s track team looks forward to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 28-30 and the Simpson College “Twilight Meet” on Friday, April 29 in Indianola, Iowa.
04-18-05 Graceland Track Competes in Jim Duncan Invitational
On Saturday, April 16, the Graceland University track and field teams competed in the Jim Duncan Invitational held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Seven men and two women placed in the top 10 in their events at the meet.Graceland indoor All-American Luke Keny placed second in the 800 meter run (1:53.95), followed close behind by Tyler Fonseca’s third place time of 1:54.55. Tom Nichols took third in the 3000 meter run with a time of 8:56.94.
The Graceland women’s effort was led by Amanda Sundell, who placed fourth in the pole vault (10-08.00), and Jaclyn Keil who ran the 1500 meter run in 4:58.00 to place 10th.
Adam Sparks placed fifth in the hammer (133-04) and eighth in the shot put (44-07). Two other eighth place finishers include Carl Hayes in the 400 meter dash (50.78) and Landon Burke’s 13 feet, 11 inch pole vault.
The Graceland track and field teams next travel to Grinnell, Iowa for the Grinnell College Dick Young Classic on Saturday, April 23.
04-09-05 Track Teams Place Second in Yellowjacket Classic
The 2005 Graceland University Yellowjacket Classic track meet was a success as an event and a success for both the men’s and women’s teams of Yellowjacket athletes. The women’s team placed second out of 12 teams as did the men who placed second out of the 13 teams entered in the one day event.Some of the highlights on the women’s side included a three person sweep of the pole vault by Amanda Sundell who took first, Jordie Currie who placed second and Lindsay Neal who placed third in the event. Elisha Plaine placed second in the triple jump and came close to the top spot as she placed fifth in the long jump. Plaine finished her great day on the track with a fourth place finish in the 100-meter dash.
Amanda Sundell also had a great day as she placed fourth in the 200-meter dash to go along with her top spot in the pole vault. Jaclyn Keil and Kendra King pushed each other to fourth and fifth place finishes in the 800-meter run while Kristin Osborn finished eighth in the same race.
In the relay events Graceland fared well with a third place finish in the 4x100 and a second place finish in the 4x400.
On the men’s side the Jackets also had a great day on the track; leading the way was Luke Keny who took top spot in the 800-meter run and second in the 1500-meter run. Jordan Hatch placed fourth in the 200-meter dash, while Carl Hayes placed fourth in the 400 and Richard Fraijo placed fifth in the 800. Tyler Fonseca was steady as usual when he finished third in the 1500-meter run. Baron Grutter and Earl Arispe finished four and five in the 400-meter hurdles as they came in two-one-thousandths apart in a close race.
The men’s relay teams also had a good day as they finished second in the 4x400 and second in the 4x800.
In the field events the Graceland men also did well and Adam Sparks led the way with a top spot in the shot put. Landon Burke placed second in the pole vault and Rahim Martin equaled the placing in the discus throw with a second of his own.
Caleb Still finished fourth in the high jump as did Jason Holt in the javelin throw.
At the end of the day both Graceland teams had success on the track and head coach Kent Allshouse and his group of volunteers ran a great event that brought a large group of college athletes to Graceland University and Lamoni, Iowa for an outstanding event.
Bruce Jenner Meet Information
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02-21-05 Allshouse HAAC Coach of the Year
The Heart of America Athletic Conference has recognized Graceland Coach Kent Allshouse as the men’s track coach of the year.Allshouse’s Yellowjackets boasted one individual and one relay team conference championship performance at the HAAC Indoor Championship Meet on February 18-19. Three relay teams earned 22 points for the Yellowjackets and 10 individuals placed in the top five in 11 events throughout the meet. Graceland also produced 11 seventh to fourteenth place finishes at the conference event.
The Graceland men’s track team placed third in the conference meet, earning a two-day total of 73 points.
Allshouse was also the coordinator of the conference meet held in Lamoni, Iowa.
02-19-05 Graceland Men’s Track Takes Third in Conference Meet
The Graceland University men’s team placed third in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Indoor Track Meet on Saturday, February 19, 2005. Lindenwood University won the event, followed by MidAmerica Nazarene University, then Graceland.Tyler Fonseca, who won the 1000 meter run in 2:35.85, was Graceland’s only individual athlete to be crowned a HAAC champion. The Yellowjacket 3200 meter relay team won the conference meet with a time of 7:59.92.
Second place awards were won by the distance medley (10:40.98) and luke keny in the 800 m run at 1:58.41. Landon Burke and Ryan Birks tied for third in the pole vault (14-09), and Caleb Still took third in the high jump (1.88), each gaining four points to Graceland’s two-day total of 73 points.
Karim Martin pulled into third place in the 800 meter run (1:59.36 and Carl Hayes finished in fourth in the 600 meter run (1:25.29). Graceland’s 1600 meter relay team finished one second behind the third place team, crossing the line at 3:26.57.
Richard Fraijo, Justin Mikels and Tyler Fonseca each added two points apiece to Graceland’s total in the 600 meter run (1:25.69), weight throw (12.56) and one-mile run (4:33.29), respectively.
02-19-05 Women’s Track Competes In HAAC Meet
The Graceland women’s team took sixth place in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Indoor Track Meet on Saturday, February 19, 2005 in Lamoni, Iowa. Nine of the Yellowjacket athletes scored points to add to Graceland’s total of 31.Kendra King and Jaclyn Keil were the top performers for the Yellowjackets, each taking home a third place finish. King ran 600 meters in 1:43.95 and Keil ran 800 meters in 2:26.55 for six points apiece. Jolyn Noble placed fourth in the 55 meter hurdles (9.54) and Amanda Sundell took fourth in the pole vault (3.20).
Elisha Plaine was the women’s only double-event point-winner as she took fourth in the long jump (5.29) and fifth in the triple jump (10.72). Beth Hooten was less than a second out of fourth place in the 5000 meter run with her 20:40.60 race time. Graceland’s 1600 meter relay snatched the fifth spot at 4:26.10 and pole vaulter Lindsay Neal took the sixth place finish (3.04) in the conference.
02-08-05 Graceland Indoor Track – Off and Running
The Graceland University indoor track team has only but a few meets under their belt in 2005 but the number of national qualifying efforts has Head Coach Kent Allshouse beaming. In total 10 Jacket athletes have qualified in 10 individual or relay events.The first Jackets to qualify for nationals did so on January 28 and 29 at the Iowa State University Open, in Ames, Iowa. Senior Kendra King led the way for the women as she qualified in the 600-meter while sophomore Elisha Plaine qualified in the long jump. Jaclyn Keil just missed a qualifying time but did run a personal best on the day.
Over the weekend meet, six Yellowjacket men qualified in five events. In individual races Tyler Fonseca qualified in the 1000-meter, Karim Martin in the 800-meter and Kane Brooner in the 60-meter hurdles. The Jackets also had two relay teams qualify for nationals as Luke Keny, Karim Martin, Richard Fraijo and Karl Hays qualified and broke the Graceland University record in the 4x400 relay. The Jackets distance medley relay team of Fonseca, Martin, Fraijo and Hays were the final group that qualified for nationals at the Iowa State meet.
On February 5 the men’s and women’s teams took to the track in a meet hosted by Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Both teams placed third in their respective divisions and three more Jackets qualified for nationals. Tyler Fonseca added to his list of qualifying events as he dominated in the 1500-meter. Joseph Mormon qualified in the 55-yard dash while Amanda Sundell qualified in the pole vault.
The Jackets have a busy weekend coming up as they head to Lincoln, Neb., on Friday Feb. 11 to take part in Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Prairie Wolf Invitational. Fifteen Jackets will compete in the all-day meet and then return home to compete and host a pentathlon / mini-open on Sunday, February 13 at Graceland University in Lamoni.
06-07-04 Freshman Luke Keny Places 5th at National Track Meet
Freshman Luke Keny earned All-American honors by placing 5th in the 800 meter run at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Cardinal Park in Louisville, Ken. Keny also received All-American status in the 800 meter run at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships earlier this year.Keny ran 800 meters in 1:51.69, scoring Graceland’s only four points and tied for 50th in team scoring at the national meet.
Ben Krul and Brandon Winchester also participated at the men’s NAIA event. Krul placed 10th in the decathlon, scoring 5812 points and Winchester threw the javelin 168’03” for a 25th place finish.
Five Yellowjacket women participated in six events at the national meet, lead by Kelly Reiff’s 7th place finish in the javelin with a throw of 137’03”. Jill Chester threw the javelin 110’10”, placing 25th.
Sarah Glynn placed 8th in the heptathlon, scoring 4209 points and Amanda Sundell pole vaulted 10’10.75” to take 9th. Elisha Plaine placed tied for 16th in the triple jump with a distance of 36’03” and she long jumped 16’08” for a 27th place finish.
The women’s team placed 40th in team scoring with three points.
06-01-04 Track Trio Receives All-America Scholar-Athlete Awards
The NAIA honored Graceland University seniors Jill Chester, Sarah Glynn and Thomas Nichols with the 2004 Daktronics-NAIA Track and Field All-America Scholar-Athlete awards.Jill Chester is from Paola, Kan. and is majoring in elementary education. Chester placed 25th in the javelin at the NAIA Outdoor Track Meet with a throw of 110’-10”. Chester placed first in the javelin at the Dick Young Classic at Grinnell College, second at Simpson’s Twilight Meet and at the Graceland Mid-West Championships. At the Heart of America Athletic Conference Meet, Jill took third in the javelin and seventh in the shot put.
Sarah Glynn, from Hastings, Iowa, studies business administration at Graceland. Glynn recently placed eighth in the heptathlon at the NAIA Outdoor Track Meet, scoring 4209 points. In Graceland’s Yellowjacket Classic, Glynn led the ladies team with 40 points in five events, including first-place finishes in the long jump and the 100-meter hurdles, also placing second in the 800-meter run and high jump and fourth in the javelin. At the Mid-West Championships, held in Lamoni, Iowa, Sarah placed first in the100-meter hurdles and third in the javelin, 400-meter hurdles and the high jump. In the Heart of America Athletic Conference Meet, Glynn took third in the 400-meter hurdles, fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and javelin and sixth in the high jump.
Thomas Nichols, from Clarinda, Iowa, is getting his bachelor’s degree in business administration at Graceland. Nichols placed 13th in the 1500 meter run and 22nd in the 800-meter run at the Dick Young Classic at Grinnell College. He placed 14th in the 5000-meter run at Simpson College’s Twilight Meet.
04-23-04 Graceland Track at Simpson Twilight Open
The Graceland track teams participated in the Simpson College Twilight Open on Saturday, April 24 in Indianola, Iowa. Luke Keny placed the highest of all Yellowjacket athletes, winning the 800-meter run. Jill Chester led the ladies team with a second place finish in the javelin throw.Other top ten finishers for the women’s team include Sarah Glynn, finishing fourth in the 400-meter hurdles and Elisha Plaine with a fifth place finish in the 100-meter dash and eighth place in the triple jump.
On the men’s team, five Jackets placed in the top ten. These athletes include: Micah Johnson—fourth in the high jump, Brandon Winchester – sixth in the javelin, Mickey Kaufman – sixth in the 800-meter run, Caleb Still – tied for seventh in the high jump and Jay Seick – tenth in the 110-meter hurdles.
The Graceland track teams compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Meet at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. this weekend, April 30 and May 1.
04-10-04 Graceland Track Teams Double-Win Yellowjacket Classic Meet
The Graceland University men’s and women’s track teams won the Yellowjacket Classic Track Meet held in Lamoni, Iowa on Saturday, April 10.The men’s team tallied 191 points, which is 85 more than the second place York College team. The Park University Pirates came in third with 101 points.
On the women’s side, Graceland scored 198 points, followed by Park’s 111 and the Fort Scott Community College team came in third place.
Mickey Kaufman paced the men’s team in the middle distance events, placing first in the 3000-meter steeplechase, second in the 1500-meter run and fourth in the 800-meter run. In the long distance events, Jesse Wagenaar won the 10,000-meter run and Sammy Biwott placed second in the 5000 meter run. In the 100-meter dash, Graceland held down four of the top six places.
Sarah Glynn led the ladies team with 40 points in five events, including first-place finishes in the long jump and the 100-meter hurdles. Kelly Reif, an All-American javelin thrower in 2003, won the event, followed by Jill Chester in second place. The Graceland trio of Sarah Glynn, Jolyn Noble and Calea Bourne swept the first three spots in the 100-meter hurdles. Individually, Graceland achieved seven first place and eight second place finishes.
The Graceland track teams travel to Grinnell, Iowa for the Dick Young Classic on April 17, 2004. The Yellowjacket teams will host two more meets this season, including Graceland’s Mid-West Championships on May 8 and Graceland’s Multi-Event Open Decathlon/Heptathlon on May 15.
