Saint Paul, MN -- The men's and women's track and field teams took the short drive over to Bethel University for the Gene Glader Classic Saturday (218) afternoon. Going up against Wisconsin-Superior, Minnesota-Morris, Wisconsin-River Falls, and Bethel, there was a good mix of competition. With the UMAC Championships just a week away, the teams looked to tune up their training before the big weekend.

Sprint:

The Action started on the track with Serena Lanes punching her ticket to the finals in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.58. Samdi Williams just missed qualifying putting up a time of 8.87 seconds. On the men's side, Jackson Omeja and Nehemiah Juaire led the way for the Rams. Jackson Omeja posted a 7.43 with Juaire crossing in 7.58 seconds. Later in the day, Lanes would return to the track to help lead the way in the 400 meter dash as well as Esther Johnson. Johnson's time of 1:07.45 put her in 11th overall with Lanes following close behind in a 1:08.35 for 12th out of 22 runners. Derek Burgin would make his season debut in the 400 meter for the men finishing in 7th place with a time of 55.96. North Central's men would then take to the track for the 4x200 meter relay. The team of Nehemiah Juaire, Elliott Lebsack, Derek Burgin, and Jackson Omeja would post a time of 1:36.26 in their season debut for the event. Next for the sprinters was the 200 meter dash. Serena Lanes, Esther Johnson, and Samdi Williams would lead the way for NCU with times of 29.23, 30.08, and 30.69, respectively. Burgin and Lebsack would lead the way on the men's side. Burgin dropped a 23.91 for 10th place while Lebsack managed a 24.21 final time for 14th of 29 competitors. 

Distance:

The distance squad at NCU would kick the day off with the Mile run. Katelynn Fox was the lone soldier for the Rams women, running a time of 7:02.30. Garrett Converse would represent the men, finishing in 10th place with a 5:01.87 mark. Next was the 800 meter run where Elizabeth Lofstad would improve on her season best time to 2:28.47. Converse would return to the track to run a 2:16.03 for the men, finishing him in 8th place. Next on the track was the 3000 meter run where Kayley Hyland put down a time of 12:42.36 for the Rams. Ryan Azeltine made his 3k debut as well crossing the line in 11:17.37. 

Throws:

NCU's Micayla Jones was the lone representative in the Weight Throw for the women, hitting a mark of 9.45m which was a .44 meter improvement on the season. For the men, Gideon Heng, Joshua Anderson, and Joey Anderson would all step into the ring for the weight throw. the three would hit marks of 11.14m, 10.44m, and 9.43m respectively. Jones would return for the women later in the Shot Put, hiting a mark of 9.89m for a 6th place finish and a .63 improvement on the season. Joshua Anderson and Joey Anderson would also come back to throw the Shot put as well. Joshua would finish with a mark of 9.99m while Joey finished with a distance of 8.91m.

Jumps:

Isaac Weiers was the lone representative in the Long Jump for NCU today, posting a mark of 5.82m which was good for 6th place. Isaac Weiers and Nehemiah Juaire would then take 1st and 2nd place in the High Jump with heights of 1.83m and 1.78m respectively. Along with a impressive performance in the 800m, Lofstad would come back to Triple Jump for a distance of 9.65m to win the event as well. 

Looking Ahead:

North Central would head to Wisonsin-Superior for the Upper Midwest Athetic Conference (UMAC) Chmpionships next weekend for a two day meet (2/24-2/25). 

You can take a look at today's results HERE.

As always, fans are encouraged to tune into official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages for updates on NCU track and field and much more information.