Three NNU distance athletes traveled to McMinnville, OR this Friday to compete in the Linfield Icebreaker, hosted by Linfield University. The three Nighthawks got the opportunity to run the longest race event in outdoor track and field, the 10,000 meter (~6.2 miles), under stadium lights.
"The athletes ran great!" said Distance Coach Greg Mitchell.
"It was the first 10,000m for all of them, and they made the most of the opportunity.
"Morgan won handily, Brody got the conference qualifier and Aaron ran back-to-back 5k PRs. A pretty good evening of work for the Nighthawks!"
At 7:00 p.m. PST, Freshman Morgan Erler toed the line at Linfield against DII, DIII, and NAIA athletes.
"It was cool being under the lights and the rain was fun," said Erler.
"Being back at sea level was really nice as well. The first 5,000m of the 10,000m felt good, and then it got harder afterward. I got to run with a good group of competitive ladies for a while, which was fun."
Erler won the race in 38:25.07, securing her spot as 8th in NNU history her first time running the event.
At 8:00 p.m. PST, Freshmen Brody Kemble and Aaron Heberlein represented the NNU men's team for the 10,000 meter.
Heberlein surprised himself when he realized that the lengthy distance and adverse conditions would make for a memorable experience.
"My initial thought was that no sane person would willingly run 25 laps in the rain at 8:00 at night in 40-degree weather. However, after the first few laps, I settled into a pace and felt better," mentioned Heberlein, who crossed the line in 34:02.81.
"It was tough at the start with so many people in the race, but I settled in behind a pack and drafted them for a while. Overall, it was a good first experience and I would definitely run the 10K again."
Teammate Brody Kemble placed 7th in the stacked race, with a time of 31:27.97. His time lands him 4th in NNU history in the 10,000m.
"It was a really cool atmosphere to run under the lights with so many people. It was tough, but I'm sure running at sea level helped," said Kemble.
"The competition was tough, but it was really cool to have different groups to hang on to. I enjoyed it, but also will enjoy not running another one for a couple of months.
"I'm really proud of Coach Mitchell, Aaron, and Morgan—they ran really well," added Kemble.
Even Coach Mitchell, a Linfield track and field alumni, had fun and spiked up for the open race.
What a night for the Nighthawks!
