NNU Track & Field traveled to Provo, Utah this week to compete in the BYU Robison Invitational. The meet featured mostly DI schools, including Utah State, Weber State, and Idaho State University. Though a smaller program, DII-ranked NNU found no issue competing with the big dogs.
Steven Schmidt placed second in the men's decathlon with 6910 points, a new NNU decathlon school record. His score puts him sixth in GNAC history.
"Going into the meet, I thought for sure it will happen, I've worked hard, and I had the indoor heptathlon record; I knew I had the potential to do it," explained Schmidt.
"However, the first day was really rough. It was freezing cold and there was so much wind the whole day. I jumped five inches under my PR for the high jump because the wind was so wild.
When I had the 400m, I didn't have the best mindset because there was such a terrible headwind. I scored barely any points the first day, and I thought the record was out of reach at that point," recalled Schmidt.
"The second day, I decided to be resilient and try my best. The hurdles went well; discus went great, which turned it around for me. They changed the pole vault to inside, which raised my confidence.
"I ended up PR'ing in the pole vault and that made me so excited. I got a new PR in the javelin; the 1500m was difficult, but in the end, I did end up getting the school record.
"My next goal is to get 7000 points—it would be nice to break that barrier. That's a pretty big mark, once you score over 7k. I'm definitely excited for Conference because I think I'll be able to pull it off there," said Schmidt.
Abbey Wood added one more school record to her repertoire after placing second in the 100m dash with a time of 11.93 seconds. Her new record puts her 10th in GNAC history.
"It is surreal to cross the line and see a time like that. I wasn't expecting it to happen at this meet," explained Wood.
"It was the first time I broke 12 seconds in the 100m, and it's crazy because I can still remember the first time I broke 13 seconds. Honestly, the 100m is hard for me even though it's supposed to be my "event."
"I tend to think too much during my races, especially in the 100m. It's exciting to finally start overcoming that and seeing all the training kick in. Out of my other records, this is the one I am most proud of. I never really believed I would break 12 seconds, and I am glad I got the record when I did it!" Wood exclaimed.
Freshman Brody Kemble had a memorable race as well—placing 4th in the men's 5,000m with a time of 15:26.43.
"The race was very challenging," said Kemble.
"It was tough with the elevation; once one of my laps was off-pace, it was somewhat downhill from there," he laughed.
"It's really hard to recover at elevation, but it was a good experience that will only make me better. It's not the results I was hoping for, but it was a really good experience and I think it will only make me stronger moving toward Conference.
"I'm really proud of the distance squad that was here today. No one had their best race, but everyone worked really hard and never gave up," added Kemble.
The Nighthawks took home 21 new personal records from Provo, definitely raising the confidence and excitement as the end of the season approaches. The Nighthawks have one more regular meet before the GNAC Conference Championships, which will be the Bengal Invitational at Idaho State University on April 28th and 29th.
