Press Releases

Coach Kent Allshouse and six Graceland track & field athletes traveled to Fresno, CA for the 2006 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held on May 25-27.

Leading the way for the women was senior Amanda Sundell(Cheyenne, WY.), who finished in 15th place overall in the women’s pole vault with a vault of 3.30 meters. Junior Elisha Plaine(Strathroy, Ont.), finished in 21st place overall in the triple jump with a distance of 11.19 meters.

On the men’s side coming up big for Graceland was junior Luke Keny(Eldoret, Kenya.). Luke competed in the 800 meter run where the top 18 runners of 3 preliminary heats advanced into the semi-finals. Keny advanced out of prelims with a time of 1:53.57. In the two heats of the semi-finals the top 9 would advance into the finals. Luke again advanced with a time of 1:52.53. In the final heat Keny finished in 8th place overall with a time of 1:53.29. Sophomore Karim Martin(Belleview, FL.) competed in the 800 meter run and finished with a time of 1:57.94 which earned him 21st place overall. In the men’s 100 meter dash freshman Mike Myer(Lenexa, KS.) and freshman James Thomas(Orlando, FL.) both qualified from the prelims to compete in the semi-final round of eighteen. In the semi-final round nine would advance to the finals. Thomas ran a time 10.81 which just missed the qualifying time of 10.80 for the finals and gave him a 10th place overall finish. Myer ran a time of 10.84 which also missed the qualifying time and placed him 11th overall. Myer was the only athlete that qualified for nationals in dual events. Mike also ran the 200 meter dash in which he missed the qualifying time for the finals by only a 100th of a second. Myer ran a time of 22.11 which earned him a 10th place overall standing. Congratulations to our men’s and women’s national competitors and a job well done.

The Graceland University men’s and women’s track teams will be represented by six Yellowjackets at the 2006 track and field outdoor nationals in Fresno, California, May 25-27.

Elisha Plaine (Strathroy, Ont.) and Amanda Sundell (Cheyenne, Wyom.) will represent the women’s side as they jump to new heights in the triple-jump and pole vault respectively. In the men’s events Luke Keny (Eldoret, Kenya) and Karim Martin (Belleview, Flo.) will compete in the 800 meter dash while Mike Myer (Lenexa, Kan.) and James Thomas (Orlando, Flo.) will sprint through tape in the 100m. Myer will be the Yellowjackets only dual-event participant as he will also run in the 200m event.

The Graceland University men’s and women’s indoor track teams are off to Johnson City, Tenn. to take part in the NAIA’s national indoor meet March 9-11. These athletes will run and jump to personal bests as they look to be national champions in their given events.

Head coach Kent Allshouse will lead the way as he prepares his men and women for competition but his job in Johnson City will not end on the track – he is taking his national championship experience to the classroom.

Coach Allshouse has been selected, along with 10 other NAIA coaches, to speak to the youth of Johnson City as they look to promote the NAIA’s Champions of Character initiative. Through the teaching of the NAIA’s five core values of respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship this group of coaches look to touch the future of college athletics.

As a selected representative, Allshouse will make a series of three presentations to different age groups at a local Johnson City school. The presentation will be based on the five core values of the Champions of Character and then Allshouse plans on opening up the floor for the students to ask questions about the NAIA, the Champions of Character and the events of the national meet.

“I am honored to be able to represent Graceland University, the sport of track and field and the NAIA in such a positive way to young people,” said Allshouse. “I believe it is important that as coaches, we take every opportunity to encourage our youth to participate in athletics and stress the importance of sportsmanship.”

The Graceland University track team hosted its last chance meet on Saturday, and the meet was a success as four Yellowjacket athletes who qualified for the national championships in Johnson City, Tenn. March 9-11.

Three Yellowjacket runners earned qualifying times in the 600m dash as the women’s team had Kendra King finish with a time of 1:30.91, while the men had two qualifiers in Luke Keny (1:14.53) and Richard Fraijo (1:14.74). The final qualifier on the day was long jumper Elisha Plaine who leaped 5.42 meters.

In total 10 Yellowjackets have qualified for the national championship in 14 events. Jaclyn Keil (one mile), Beth Hooten (3000m) and Reily Madigan (3000m) will join King on the track while Amanda Sundell (pole vault) will join Plaine (long jump, triple jump) in the field events.

The men’s team will also be represented with a group of athletes as Luke Keny will lead the way with a busy national meet as he has qualified for three events: 600m, 800m and the 1000m. James Thomas (55m) and Mike Myer (55m and 200m) will be joining Keny and Fraijo (600m) on the track over the three-day period.

The Heart of America Athletic Conference has recognized Graceland Coach Kent Allshouse as the men’s indoor track coach of the year.

Allshouse’s Yellowjackets boasted one individual conference championship performance at the HAAC Indoor Championship Meet on February 18-19. Two relay teams earned 12 points for the Yellowjackets and 10 individuals placed in the top six in seven events throughout the meet. The Graceland men’s track team placed third in the conference meet, earning a two-day total of 63 points.

Allshouse was also the coordinator of the conference meet held in Lamoni, Iowa.

The Graceland University track teams hosted the 2006 Indoor Heart of America Athletic Conference Championships February 17 and 18 in Lamoni, Iowa. The two day event took place inside the Closson Center where the women’s team placed an impressive fourth out of the nine conference teams while the men took third in their group. Graceland’s coach, Kent Allshouse, was recognized as the HAAC men’s track coach of the year.

The Yelllowjacket women had many great performances over the two day meet and leading the way was freshman Allison Emslie who won the 800-meter dash. Emslie was so impressive in her race that she crossed the finish line nearly five seconds ahead of the closest competitor.

A trio of Jackets came close to the top spot as Reily Madigan and Beth Hooten finished second and third in the 3000 meter run while Elisha Plaine took second in the triple jump. Hooten and Madigan each qualified for nationals in the 3000-meter run.

In total eight Yellowjacket women finished in the top five of their respective events. Other Jackets to finish in the top of the pack were Amanda Sundell, who placed third in the pole vault, Kendra King with fourth in the 600-meter run, Jaclyn Couse with fifth in the 400-meter run and Plaine who also earned a fifth place finish in the long jump.

Along with the individual efforts Graceland had two great finishes in two relays as they placed second n the women’s distance medley and fifth in the 4x400 relay.

On the men’s side the Yellowjackets also had a great two days as a number of competitors finished in the top five in their events. Leading the way for the men was standout sophomore Luke Keny who took the top spot in the 1000-meter run.

Mike Myer had a great day on the track as he placed third in the 200-meter dash while earning a fifth in the 55-meter dash. James Thomas came in just ahead of Myer in the 55 and earned himself a fourth place finish.

Karim Martin and Richard Fraijo also had consecutive finishes as they crossed the line fourth and fifth in the 600-meter run. Heath Brown earned himself a fifth place spot in the 800-meter.

In the throwing events the Jackets two returning top throwers also had great finishes as Adam Sparks finished fourth in the shot put while Justin Mikels placed seventh in the same event. The two throwers finished consecutively in the weight throw as Sparks took sixth and Mikels seventh.

In their final events on the day Graceland’s men’s relay teams ended strong with third place finishes in both the 4x400 and 4x800 while picking up a fourth in the distance medley relay.

“I was extremely pleased with the level of determination and focus that both Graceland teams displayed,” said Coach Allshouse. “There were tremendous efforts from both the men’s and women’s teams this weekend.”

On Sunday, Feb. 12 Graceland University hosted the annual Valentine’s Pentathlon and Mini-Open in Lamoni, Iowa. Six schools took part in the day’s indoor track and field event along with multiple unattached competitors.

In the highlight event, the pentathlon, the Yellowjackets’ top performer was freshman Ben Brummit who finished seventh place with a total of 2305 points. Brummit’s top finish in the pentathlon events was a second place in the 1000-meter dash.

Other Yellowjacket men to fair well on the day in field events include pole vaulters Landon Burke and Eric Knapp who finished second and third respectively. Knapp also took a second place position in the triple jump. In shot put Graceland also had a one-two finish as Adam Sparks and James Blake were the top two in the throwing event. In the final field event for the men’s side Justin Mikels took first in the weight throw while Blake took another second in the event.

On the track the Yellowjackets made a one-two-three sweep in the 55-meter dash. James Thomas was he first to cross the line with a time of 6.47 which was followed closely by teammates Roshe Hepburn at 6.58 and Mike Myer at 6.62. Myer also went on to compete in and win the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.63. Karim Martin was another Graceland runner to cross the line in the lead as he finished first in the 600-meter dash with a time of 1:25.70.

Another pair of Jackets finished a race in the top two spots as Heath Brown and Casey Gray led the way in the 800-meter run. The Yellowjackets came close to another couple of wins as Richard Fraijo placed second in the 400-meter while Mark Boswell and James Bailey finished close in the 1000-meter in third and fourth place.

The women’s side of the draw also saw its share of victories on the day as Amanda Sundell won the pole vault and Elisha Plaine and Jordie Currie took one-two in the triple jump with Plaine also earning a second place spot in the long jump. Reily Madigan and Elizabeth Hooten also finished one-two in the 3000-meter run, while Jaclyn Couse picked up a couple of third place finishes in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes.

The Graceland women came close to a sweep in the 600-meter as Kendra King, Allison Emslie and Jemarie Alcordo finished second, third and fourth in the event.

Also on the track, Graceland University’s Luke Keny traveled to Iowa State University to take part in their indoor classic. Keny was up against some tough competition in the 800-meter dash as most of his fellow runners were from NCAA Division I schools. Keny finished the race in a time of 1:54.96 to finish a respectable 70th amongst the field of 129 runners.

All of the Yellowjackets will be back in action on Friday and Saturday as Graceland will host the HAAC indoor championship in the Closson Center. The two day event will kick off at 1:00 on Friday, Feb. 17.

The Graceland men’s track team topped the 10-team field in the 2006 Hilltop Invitational on Feb. 6 in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Graceland led the pack with 99 team points, followed by Buena Vista University’s 96 and third place University of Dubuque with 81 points.

James Thomas was one of three Jackets to win his event as he outran the field in the 55-meter dash, recording a time of 6.49 seconds. Ryan Birks led a swarm of Yellowjackets in the pole vault with a 13-feet, 5.25-inch vault. Landon Burke placed second at 12-feet, 5.5-inches and Eric Knapp placed fourth with an 11-feet, 11.75-inch vault. Knapp also placed second leaping 41-feet, 9.25-inches in the triple jump.

Luke Keny won the 800-meter run at 1:58.74, followed by Karim Martin in third place at 2:00.74 and Heath Brown at 2:02.94 in fifth. Ben Brummit placed second in the high jump at 5-feet, 10-inches and Eric King was fourth with 5-feet, 7-inches.

Adam Sparks and Justin Mikels each placed well in field events as Mikels was third in the weight throw (47-11.25) and sixth in the shot put (42-07) while Sparks took seventh in the weight throw (44-08.25) and third in the shot put (46-02.5).

Mark Boswell and James Bailey competed in the 5000-meter run, placing fourth and eighth with times of 16:29.65 and 17:05.38, respectively.

The Yellowjackets next host the Graceland Valentine’s Pentathlon and Mini-Open at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12.

On Feb. 17-18 Graceland hosts the Heart of America Athletic Conference meet in the Closson Center. Friday, Feb. 17 the events start at 1 p.m. and on Saturday, Feb. 18 events begin at 10 a.m.

The Graceland women’s track team brought home four individual titles from the 2006 Hilltop Invitational on Feb. 6 in Mount Vernon, Iowa. The Yellowjackets placed fifth overall in team standings.

Elisha Plaine took first-place titles in both the long and triple jump this weekend, leaping 16-feet, 3.25-inches in the long and 35-feet, 7.25-inches in the triple. Beth Hooten was the first to cross the finish line at 19:28.07 in the 5000-meter run and Allison Emslie took the gold in with a time of 2:27.25 in the 800-meter run. Reily Madigan placed third in the same event with a time of 2:32.29.

Lindsay Neal pole vaulted 9-feet, .25-inches to place third while Kendra King ran 1:43.70 to place second in the 600-meter run and Jaclyn Couse took fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.71.

The Yellowjackets next host the Graceland Valentine’s Pentathlon and Mini-Open at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12.

On Feb. 17-18 Graceland hosts the Heart of America Athletic Conference meet in the Closson Center. Friday, Feb. 17 the events start at 1 p.m. and on Saturday, Feb. 18 events begin at 10 a.m.

Eight Graceland athletes won first place in their respective events at the 2006 Graceland University Indoor Invitational Track Meet Friday afternoon in Lamoni, Iowa.

On the women’s side, Jaclyn Keil won the one mile run in 5:30.59 and Amanda Sundell took home the championship in the women’s pole vault with a height of 3.5 meters. Allison Emslie took second in the 800-meter run (2:29.99) and Elisha Plaine had a good day with a second place finish in the long jump (4.85 meters) and fourth in the triple jump (9.85 meters).

In the 3000-meter run Beth Hooten placed third and Reily Madigan took fifth with times of 11:11.9 and 11:23.75, respectively. Jolyn Noble tied with a Simpson athlete for third in the 55-meter hurdles (10.10) and in the pole vault teammates Lindsay Neal and Jordie Currie placed fifth vaulting 2.74 meters apiece.

Five male athletes took first place in six events in the men’s version of the track meet. Mike Myer won both the 55-meter dash (6.60) and 200-meter dash (23.12) in his first year with the track program. Karim Martin led the pack of the 800-meter runners with a time of 2:01.72, followed by teammates Luke Keny in third (2:02.83) and Heath Brown, who placed fourth with a time of 2:08.18. Calob Still leaped 1.88 meters to take the championship in the high jump and Ryan Birks won the pole vault (3.96 meters).

Adam Sparks was one of five Yellowjacket throwers in the men’s shot put, leading the way with a 14.08 meter throw. Justin Mikels took third (12.67 meters) and James Blake was fourth with an 11.51 meter throw. In the weight throw, Graceland athletes Justin Mikels and Adam Sparks placed third and fourth with 12.94 and 12.06 tosses. In the high jump Ben Brummit placed third (1.82 meters) and Eric Knapp took third in the pole vault (3.81 meters).

Graceland controlled the five of the top six spots in the 400-meter dash, as Roshe Hepburn placed second (55.63) followed by Mike Mott, Baron Grutter, Earl Arispe and sixth place Andrew Dunning at 58.28. Dunning also placed fourth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.83. In the 3000-meter run Mark Boswell placed fifth and James Bailey took seventh with times of 9:43.08 and 9:49.18.

For complete meet results, see the Graceland Web site at www.gojackets.graceland.edu.

The Graceland track teams next travel to the Iowa State Open in Ames, Iowa, on January 27.

Friday, January 13th , 2006
Hosted by Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa

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