GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Alex Blehm (Caledonia, Mich.) ran the fastest 400 time in the NAIA this season as the freshman sprinter was named the male most valuable performer and most outstanding performance at the WHAC Track & Field Champions on Friday at Houseman Field.
The Davenport women's track & field team finished tied for fourth place with 96 points, while the men's team tallied 85 points to finish fifth. Indiana Tech won the event on the women's side, and Siena Heights took home the title for the men's championship.
Blehm ran a blistering 46.86 seconds in the 400 meter dash to set the NAIA mark while also setting a Davenport school record.
Blehm also won the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.68 seconds, a school record, and was a member of the first place finishing 4x100 meter relay team. Joining Blehm on the school record breaking relay team were Kody Dauntuma (Kentwood, Mich.), Carleton Hunter (South Haven, Mich.) and Dallas Wade (Kentwood, Mich.) in a time of 41.40 seconds.
The Panthers swept all of the sprint events as Hunter won the 100 meters in a time of 10.67 seconds, besting his own school record, and Wade finished third in 10.90 seconds.
Jason Cogswell (Byron Center, Mich.) finished second in the hammer throw, tossing 182'7.
For the Lady Panthers, Talitha Robertson (Sterling Heights, Mich.) notched two first place finishes in the hammer throw (156') and the shot put (41' 5), the latter being a new Davenport school record.
In the 800 meter run, the Panthers finished in the top two spots as Stacey Baron (Manton, Mich.) finished in 2:23.53 and Jeannie Closson finished behind her in 2:24.38.
Rachel Jerrils (Rockford, Mich.) and Amy VanEns (Lowell, Mich.) both scored points in the 400 meters as Jerrils finished fourth in a school record time of 58.25 seconds, while VanEns finished right behind in fifth place. VanEns also finished second in the high jump.
Jess Roodvoets (Wayland, Mich.) finished second in the 400 meter hurdles, less than a second behind Tiffany Aiken of Indiana Tech. Roodvoets picked up another second place finish in the long jump.
Julie Janish (Whittemore, Mich.) scored points with a second place throw in the javelin at 108'1.
The Panthers tallied 11 school records for the day in the WHAC Championships.
