The Nighthawks and eleven other teams from the west gathered at Concordia University Irvine (CA) on Saturday for the sixth annual Team 4 Titus and Ely meet, an event named in honor of Head Coach Danny Bowman's two amazing sons who have battled a rare genetic disease called Batten.
The Bowmans have an unimaginable story: the family experienced the loss of their eldest, Titus, to the disease in 2016 and are currently fighting for the life of their second son, Ely, who is battling the same disease as his brother. The meet is held to honor the incredible boys and to bring awareness to the rare disease. The CUI track and field program was formerly coached by Bowman, and the university continues to host the meet annually.
The Nighthawks competed for something bigger this weekend with the Bowman's story in mind. Head Coach Danny Bowman highlighted the team's incredible feats at Irvine:
"This meet was so much fun. It was neat to see our team show up and perform thirty personal records (out of thirty athletes), fifteen Top-Ten All-Time performances at NNU, two school records, and two national qualifiers. I'm very proud of their hard work and how they started the season off strong," said Bowman.
Senior Tyler Shea won the 5,000m in 14:23.08, breaking yet another NNU record in his last season as a Nighthawk and shattering the record by over thirteen seconds. At just the first meet of the season, Shea's time qualifies him for the NCAA DII National Championships at the end of May.
"It was a really fun meet and a cool opportunity to support Coach Bowman and his kids through the Team for Titus and Ely meet," said Shea.
"I was excited for this meet because the 5k is the last event so we got to race under the lights which is always really fun. The weather was perfect. My main goal was to try and just go out and run a fast time and take advantage of our opportunity to race in California.
"I led the whole race but was just trying to focus on running even splits. I was happy to officially get the school record; I technically had the outdoor 5k record already from last year, but it was an altitude converted time, so getting the actual record feels really good!"
The NNU men's team took the top of the podium multiple times on Saturday. Freshman Hunter Braseth won the 200m dash in 21.92, 6th in NNU history. The 4X100 relay team composed of Nick Wong, Hunter Braseth, Cameron Willey, and Sylvanus Hunt snagged first in the event with a time of 42.05, 8th in NNU history. Freshman Steven Schmidt also won the javelin throw with a mark of 51.50m.
Sprinter Abbey Wood took home massive PRs in her events, running 25.61 in the 200m and 12.27 in the 100m, 2nd in NNU history.
"I was kind of nervous going into outdoor. Coming off a great indoor season, I wasn't quite sure what to expect and didn't want to set my expectations too high," said Wood. "I was super psyched about the 100. Those times were huge PRs for me and I honestly never thought I'd be able to hit them. Being able to run them at the first meet in great weather was a huge plus."
Kinsey Langin won the pole vault event with a height of 3.50m, followed closely by teammate Julie Cheney who vaulted 3.35m. Nizhoni Buckway won the javelin event with a throw of 39.95m.
Freshman Miya Koch also won the high jump with a mark of 1.69m, setting a new NNU school record in the event. Koch's mark qualifies her for the NCAA DII National Championship in May.
"I feel fortunate that I was able to come to this meet because it allowed me to grow closer with my teammates and thankfully have a successful meet that has hopefully set the tone for the rest of the season," said Koch.
"I wouldn't say that I was expecting a school record, but going into the meet I knew what I was capable of and how my body was feeling and where my mindset was at. Getting some time to recover and heal both physically and mentally was probably the biggest factor that impacted my performance.
"At the meet, Coach Eastman was not telling me the height progressions as the bar was moving up, so I wasn't quite sure what heights I was jumping at. I was just told to jump the same way every time as if the bar hadn't moved at all," Koch explained.
"Not knowing the heights of the bar seemed scary at first, but I put my trust in him and his confidence in my ability as I was taking my jumps. This helped my mind stay calm and focused instead of allowing the height of the bar to provoke fear and doubt.
"As outdoor season begins, I already feel like it's going to be a season full of a lot of great things happening for the NNU track and field team. Not just from myself, but all of my teammates as well. During indoor season, I felt myself struggle and face a lot of trial and error, but heading into outdoor, I am excited to finally see myself and everyone around me peak to our highest potential as well as watch our hard work be displayed for everyone to see."
Sophomore Laine DeJong had a great day on the track and the pit, securing three personal records in her events. She ran the 400m in 59.07 seconds, the 200m in 26.60 seconds, and long jumped 5.38m, 7th in NNU history.
"The California meet is always a fun meet. This year was especially fun in the warm weather," said DeJong.
"My training is really coming together this year and I got a PR in all three of my events. Getting a big PR in the long jump was a fun way to start the meet and it was even better that I got to do it with my three other long jump girls in finals! I finally broke my lifetime PR in the 400 as well, getting close to getting down into the 58s, a goal for this coming outdoor season.
"The team overall did fantastic at this meet with a lot of PRs and event winners. This trip has been an amazing end to spring break and overall a special meet to start off outdoor and get to know each other as a team!"
The Nighthawks' next debut will be on their home track in Nampa for the Northwest Nazarene Invitational on April 1st and 2nd.
