(Editor's note: RMC Athletics release)
SPEARFISH, N.D. -– Kicking off Rocky Mountain College's indoor track & field season Saturday at the Dave Little Alumni Mile, Isaac Petsch led the Battlin' Bears with an NAIA B-Standard qualifying time in the men's mile.
Running the mile in 4:25.17, Petsch earned a trip to the 2020 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championship in Brookings, S.D., on March 5-7. He finished in second place behind Black Hills State's Jordan Theisen, who ran a time of 4:22.83, and ahead of teammate Elijah Boyd who placed in third on a time of 4:36.69.
Petsch also finished in third in the men's 5000m race with a time of 16:00.09.
Michael Lee broke his own indoor track & field school record for the men's shot put with a distance of 14.96m/49'1". The sophomore from Kalispell, Mont., finished in fourth. His previous indoor record stood at 14.92m in 2019.
Throwing for a distance of 13.97m/45'10" in the weight throw, Elijah Barkell also broke one of Lee's indoor school records. Barkell finished in eighth. Lee had thrown for 12.78m in 2019.
Running in a field of 16, Joseph Vanden Bos finished in second in the men's 800m on a time of 2:00.30.
Vanden Bos was also a member of Rocky's 4x400m relay team whose time of 3:35.92 placed them in second, behind Black Hills State, in a field of five teams. Other members included Lawrence Bryant, Caden Bethel, and Boyd.
Elsewhere, John Bass finished in fifth in the 200m among 11 runners with a time of 23.79.
As for the women's track & field team, the Battlin' Bears' Kara Holmlund's mark of 9.86m/32'4.25" in the women's weight throw broke Rocky's indoor track & field record. Holmlund finished in 18th while breaking Jordyn Walter's previous record of 9.39m from 2018.
Sydney Little Light finished in third place in the women's mile on a time of 5:35.12. Teammate Ruth Chepsat placed in eighth on a personal best time of 6:02.37.
Chepsat finished in fifth in the women's 5000m among 14 runners with a time of 19:45.42.
Bailey Bard finished fifth in the women's 60m on a time of 8.38 after finishing in fourth in the preliminaries with a time of 8.31. Bard also took seventh in the women's 200m with a time of 28.33.
The Battlin' Bears will next compete at the Myrle Hanson Open in Spearfish, S.D., on Feb. 1.
